


No Such Thing As Psychics

by redwolffclaw



Series: Moonlighting [1]
Category: Chuck (TV), Moonlight (TV), Psych
Genre: Crossover, F/M, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Shawn Doesn't Know What He Is, Surprise CHUCK reference! Not until very late in the story though., Vampires
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-16
Updated: 2015-05-14
Packaged: 2018-03-23 04:47:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 16
Words: 54,285
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3755062
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/redwolffclaw/pseuds/redwolffclaw
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Shawn is in an accident and a mysterious doctor changes his life forever. Meanwhile, vampire private investigator Mick St. John is searching for Shawn to get to him before it's too late and Shawn's sire finds him first.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Waking the Undead

**Author's Note:**

> I am a huge Psych and Moonlight fan so this story was a must for me. For those who have read it before on other sites (I wrote it a couple years ago) I have since updated and reformatted everything. I have added more character development, better grammar and more dialogue to match it up better with the sequels.
> 
> *SPOILERS!!* Takes place in late season 6 and has some references to episodes up to then.
> 
> Note to Psychos not familiar with Moonlight's version of vampires... I will try to work the mythology into the story. Usually when Shawn finds out the hard way. The vampires are a bit different but still awesome. If you want to know more you can look up the Moonlight tv series or enjoy learning about it along the way with Shawn.
> 
> I don't own Moonlight or Psych or any characters in either one.

( Here is the video trailer for this story: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-TG30AfPBE>)

 

 

**Chapter 1- "Waking the Undead"**

              "Damn it!" Shawn swore as he weaved his Norton in and out of packed LA traffic. "Jules is gonna _kill_ me if I am late again." He was going to be at least ten minutes late as it was, but dealing with more Yahoos on the road than he was used to in Santa Barbara was really trying his nerves.

              He glanced at himself in his side mirror, disappointed he had to wear a helmet tonight, because he'd gotten his short brown hair perfect this morning. But if Juliet found out he didn't put it on, she would have Carlton Lassiter, her partner, shoot him. Carlton had made it very clear he'd have no problem with that scenario.

              Shawn smiled. It was going to be a great night. He had asked Jules out to a fancy restaurant in LA after finishing up catching a murderer and extraditing him back to Santa Barbara for processing. _"Might as well have some fun while psychically solving a murder_ _."_ he had said and he was pretty sure Gus wouldn't mind if he used his credit card for such a good cause.

              He had also promised Juliet that this was going to be his last ride on his bike. He had a plan to go car shopping with Gus this next Tuesday and to pick out something sensible but sexy, and definitely the color green. He might even make it their company car. An actual "Psychmobile."

              As he was momentarily lost in thought, an SUV ran a red light and sped right in his path. Shawn's eyes widened in terror a second before he instinctively laid the bike on its side to slow it down.

              The impact wasn't as hard as Shawn thought it was going to be, but it was hard enough. His shoulder hit the passenger door of the vehicle leaving a Shawn sized dent in it. The pain momentarily caused him to black out.

              When he came to he was laying on the pavement with a paramedic standing over him. "Sir! Sir! Can you hear me?" Shawn looked at the guy's name tag, Stu.

              "Yeah. Did anyone get the license number of that guy on the motorcycle?"

              Stu the paramedic looked puzzled, "But sir you were..."

              "It was a joke." Shawn shook his head. No one had a sense of humor. He was going to tell the guy that, but he started to feel very dizzy. "What's wrong with me? I just hit my shoulder..."

              Stu shook his head, "You lost a lot of blood, the mirror on the door cut you as you hit it and it left a large gash on your arm. We're taking you to the hospital. "

              "I uh..." Is all Shawn got out. Lifting his head slightly, he saw the paramedic look closer at his arm and the pool of blood spreading from it. "That's not supposed to happen…" he said groggily as his eyes rolled in the back of his head and his head hit the pavement.

              As he was blacking out he heard Stu say, "Emergency! He is going into shock!"

\--------------------------------------------

              Shawn opened his eyes. It was night and he was alone in a hospital room. His arm hurt badly and he could barely move. "Aw, God." He whined as he tried to adjust his position. He expected to see Juliet or someone waiting by his bedside when he woke up but his room was empty and with the exception of a couple tiny lights over the bed it was dark.

              Looking at the white board containing his patient information, he saw that his doctor was named Dr. Grey. Shawn would have giggled at the name and what TV show it implied except for the fact that got freaked out by Patrick Dempsey, and so did not feel like going there right now. The board also said he was under observation and could not receive visitors at the time. "Well, that explains why Juliet and Gus are not here." He said to himself. His dad must not be at the hospital yet because he knew: A. Hospitals usually make exceptions for immediate family to visit… and B. His father Henry Spencer could make them let him in just by claiming it was police business.

              He glanced around his bed and saw that he had two IV's one was pumping blood, the other was pumping morphine. "Dad better let me keep the pain killers this time." His father had a habit of pulling pain medication when he figured it wasn't worth it.

              One of the machines next to him started to beep. He looked and saw the blood bag was almost empty. Apparently he lost a lot of it from his arm wound and saw that he had gotten other smaller cuts from the road. It was less than a minute before a male doctor walked into the room with a cart. Shawn could see it was one of those refrigerated carts for blood deliveries.

              "So, Patch Adams, are you going to rub my toes and sing me to sleep?" Shawn smirked in his charming way. The man ignored him. He loomed over the cart for a moment, seemingly making some sort of decision. Eventually he reached in, took a new bag of blood out, and approached Shawn's bed.

              Despite the psychic's witty attempts at conversation and asking how long he had been there, the doctor stayed silent as he attached the new blood bag to Shawn's IV. and made sure everything was connected before he started the blood drip. Shawn sighed, "Well thank you for the great conversation. You really do have a wonderful bedside manner."

              Shawn's comment seemed to get a reaction out of the man. He turned around, looked at him and cryptically said, "You will be fine now." The doctor then pushed his cart through the door and out of the room with no further explanation.

             "Okay, sufficiently creepy. I'm impressed." Shawn sighed and laid his head back down. He looked over at the new blood bag. His observant nature instantly zeroed in on the difference between this bag and the other bag of blood he had been getting. This one had a different label and did not specify blood type or hospital of origin. "What the..." He was about to press the call button when a burning pain shot through his arm, traveling up and into his chest.

              Shawn's head fell back and monitors around him started beeping all at once. He suddenly couldn't breathe and started to seize. Nurses ran into the room followed by doctors. Shawn wanted to tell them about the blood bag but he was beyond communicating now as they were trying to shove a tube down his throat to get him oxygen. Shawn fought to stay conscious but his eyes started to flutter closed. Before they did he saw the heart monitor attached to him, and it was flat lined.

\-------------------------------

              Shawn came awake slowly. It took him a couple minutes to realize he was still in the hospital and by the darkness outside the window it was night. His head felt like a Mack truck had backed over it repeatedly and he was incredibly thirsty. "How long have I been out...?"

              He tried to sit up and realized his mistake, "OW." Shawn found out just how stiff he was. "I guess quite a while." He carefully propped himself up on his elbows and glanced around the room noticing that he was no longer alone.

              His dad was sitting in a chair close to the bed while Gus was lying down on the very uncomfortable looking bench seat near the window. Shawn was honestly happy they were there and he cleared his throat to hold back any ‘unmanly' emotions.

              Henry stirred at the noise Shawn was making so he decided to stay still. _How can they sleep with the light on anyway, don't they turn these things off at night?_ Shawn thought. The memory of what happened earlier suddenly snapped back into his mind and he immediately turned to see the blood bag hanging next to his bed. It looked like the regular hospital blood bags but was close to empty.

              A nurse walked in only a few seconds later and her presence woke both Gus and Henry. "Oh, I am sorry Mr. Guster, Mr. Spencer. I didn't mean to wake you but I have to refill Shawn's transfusion bag. They seem to be emptying pretty quickly."

              Being the subject of the conversation they all turned their attention to Shawn who gave a feeble wave.

              "Shawn" Henry sounded exasperated but relieved, "How long have you been up?"

              "Only long enough to know I really really want a pineapple smoothie." He grinned, trying to look cute. When his father gave him a disapproving stare Shawn relented. "…or maybe just some water." He said in a croaky voice.

              The nurse smiled and turned towards the light switch, "Let's get this on so I can see you better to change out the blood."

              Shawn cocked his head and noticed the light switch was on the off position. "Where is all that light coming from then?" he puzzled just before going blind as the overhead fluorescents flickered on.

              "GAH! Who turned on the sun?" Shawn hollered as he covered his face with his hands, "Someone fire the electric guys! They mistakenly installed 2000 watt bulbs!"    

              "They are called electricians Shawn, and I am sure there is no such thing as a 2000 watt light bulb." Gus corrected.

              Through his hands a muffled voice came out, "I've heard it both ways!"

              Henry, being the rational one turned off the light and went over to Shawn's side. He looked at the nurse, "Is being this light sensitive normal?"

              The nurse, a bit shocked by the experience, shook her head, "It could be a side effect of his seizures. We think that it may have been an accidental dose of something other than his blood type and he had a strong reaction to it. We were lucky to save him."

              Blinking the spots out of his eyes, Shawn looked up at his dad, "Where is the doctor that gave me that blood? It wasn't the regular hospital blood pack was it?"

              "What did he look like?" the nurse asked while she connected the blood bag, concern was very evident in her voice.

              "About 5'11", medium length brown hair, slight facial hair, kind of a young Vigo Mortensen in a hospital garb. I caught a very creepy vibe from him."

              Gus narrowed his eyes and asked, "Christopher Walken creepy or Crispin Glover creepy?"

              "Javier Bardem from ‘No Country for Old Men' creepy." Shawn widened his eyes at Gus, who returned the look back to him. Javier Bardem was the ultimate on their creepy-scale. It was a very intricate and detailed chart and going straight to the top was almost unheard of and saved for individuals such as Yin, Yang, and the guy who delivers papers to their office.

              "Mr. Spencer," The nurse interrupted, "we do have a doctor matching that description working here, but he didn't show up for work today. I will inform hospital Security immediately." With that she ran out the door leaving a confused trio of guys in her wake.

              "How are you feeling now Shawn?" Henry asked kneeling next to the bed.

              Shawn pouted, "Still thirsty and she forgot to give me my smoothie."

              Gus went over to the sink and poured some water in a cup, "We'll get you a smoothie later, right now you just need to rest." He handed the cup to Shawn who drank it in almost one gulp and instantly spit it all back out.

              He then went into a painful coughing spasm, gasping for breath. "Shawn you shouldn't drink it so fast! Breathe kid!" Henry patted Shawn on the back.

              *Gasp* "What..." *Cough* *Cough* "What was in that water?" *Cough* "Tasted horrible."

              "We'll try to get you some purified water once the nurse comes back. Take it easy next time kid." Scolded Henry.

              Catching his breath Shawn realized something, he'd been using his arm, and it had stopped hurting. He figured it must be the pain killers. He remembered the paramedic say something about why he had to be given transfusions _._ _"You lost a lot of blood, the mirror on the door cut you as you hit it and it left a large gash on your arm."_ Turning his attention to his bandages Shawn started looking and poking at them.

              Gus slapped his hand away. "Shawn, don't do that! They told us they finally got you to stop bleeding!"

              Shawn gave him a glare and said, "I just want to see how bad it is." and continued to mess with the gauze only to have his hand slapped again, this time by his father.

              He was about to glare and make a witty comeback when a doctor walked in the door and noticed him messing with the gauze. "Please don't touch that Mr. Spencer, can I call you Shawn?"

              Shawn nodded, "And I believe you have already met my dad Henry, and my business partner Slim McPickens."

              Gus jumped in before the doctor could greet him as "Slim." "Burton Guster sir."

              The doctor nodded and continued, "I am sure you must be confused about what has all happened to you Shawn." The young man nodded, "Well, you’ve been here for two days already. You were in a high speed accident on your motor cycle and you collided with an SUV. Your right side smashed against the driver's side door and a piece of the mirror cut into your brachial artery. The artery pumps major amounts of blood to your arm and you ended up almost bleeding out on the street. Luckily the ambulance got there when it did. As it was we have had to give you multiple blood transfusions in order to stabilize you." The doctor pointed to the bag connected to Shawn. "Unfortunately it looks like someone came in and gave you the wrong blood. We’re still trying to figure out who this person on our staff was but security has been notified and is on the lookout for the doctor matching the description you gave."

              "So what you’re telling me is that some random guy came in and was able to hook Shawn up to God knows what and was just able to walk out?" Henry angrily interjected. "How do we know my son is safe here?"

              The doctor held up his hands in a pacifying gesture, "I assure you Mr. Spencer, we have everyone we can spare working on finding who did this. For now, let’s just worry about how Shawn is doing."

              "How long have I been out?" Shawn groaned as he tried to push himself higher on the bed so he could sit up. The light was really hurting his head and everything seemed to be a bit too loud.

              The doctor moved closer and Shawn was finally able to see his name tag. Doctor Grey. "It has been more than a day. You are probably going to experience weakness for a while. We’re still trying to assess the damage to your body."

              As the Doctor approached, Shawn caught a scent he could not recognize. It was hard to describe other than a musty chemical smell. "What cologne are you wearing doctor?"

              "I'm not wearing any cologne Shawn. I did, however, just come from the lab and when you are down there it does have a slight scent."

              Shawn put his hands to his head and closed his eyes. Without realizing why, he took a long sniff. He suddenly saw the doctor talking with someone, a man. He couldn’t distinguish any features though. "You talked to someone about what was found in the blood I was given." It was like Shawn could see what he smelled. Not unlike how he uses his photographic memory but he had never seen the lab at all and was almost able to describe it.

              "That is correct Mr. Spencer, err... Shawn. I heard you were psychic but it is very impressive seeing it in person."

              Gus and Henry looked knowingly at each other but stayed silent.

              "So what is the consensus?" Shawn said putting fake sadness into his voice. "Will I lose the arm doc? Don’t sugar coat it. It can take the truth!" Despite his joking, he was doing his best to not shudder when he pictured himself without an arm.

              "No, you won’t lose the arm." The doctor said shaking his head. He started to remove the bandages, "You will have to have physical therapy once it heals..."

              As the last of the bandages came off the doctor hesitated and looks at Shawn's forearm with a mixture of puzzlement and terror. "This can’t be…."

              The three men saw the doctor’s face and reacted in their own special ways, Gus started crying, Shawn screamed like a girl, and Henry asked, "What? Is it infected?"

              Dr. Grey shook his head in disbelief, ignoring the cries and screams to answer Henry's question.

              "Mr. Spencer. There is nothing wrong with his arm."

\--------------------------------------------------

              Catching a familiar scent, Mick St. John sighed as he opened the door to his apartment. It had been another long day and he was looking forward to taking Beth, his girlfriend of four years, out for the night. Being a vampire, he wouldn’t have anything himself but they were used to it and he did enjoy going out for a bit and relaxing.

              As he entered the apartment the scent grew stronger. "What are you doing here Josef?" Mick said with unhidden annoyance. The other vampire had a bad habit of turning up and drinking all his blood, even though he claimed he did not like the type. "I have plans to take Beth out tonight and I have to get going."

              Josef Kostan, a very old vampire and Mick’s best friend smirked and rose from the chair he sat in. He had an easy smile that could charm anyone but Mick was used to it and continued to scowl despite the display. "You know I’m all for nookie as much as the next vampire but we have a problem." His expression changed and became uncharacteristically serious. "It is a rogue, Mick."

              Mick froze and really looked at Josef. The look of concern on his face was odd because in the years Mick had known him he was hardly ever this concerned, with anything. Rogues were serious business in the vampire world. Their existence as a race depended on secrecy. Needless to say, when mad vampires ran around murdering people, it was a bad thing.

              Mick took a deep breath. "How many people has he killed?"

              Josef grumbled and paced. "The problem is he hasn’t killed _anyone_! He's turning them and _they_ are killing people. The cleaners put down three so far. I was able to save one before he went feral, caught him early." Josef took a swig of the glass blood he was holding. "He was able to give me some information about what happened. He was injured, dying in a hospital in town when he said someone came into his room and that was the last thing he knew. Due to his injury he was getting transfusions which helped him not go crazy and eat everyone. I checked the other three we put down and it was the same thing. All dying in hospital, but minus the blood part."

              Mick ran his fingers through his hair and leaned on the counter. "How many more do you think there are?"

              "From what our contacts in the hospital say, only one more. Miraculous recoveries are kind of a rarity, especially ones where major wounds heal overnight." Josef pulled out an envelope and handed it to Mick. "Here is the information they were able to nab on the guy. While you go find him, I’m going to go after the rogue."

              "Really, huh…" Mick raised his eyebrows.

              "Is there something you would like to share with the class smart alec?" Josef gave his friend an incredulous look.

              "Nothing, just remembering how you said you were a lover and not a fighter. I’m just surprised you’re not going to hire someone to find the rogue for you." Mirth dripped from Mick’s words.

              "I did hire someone, _you_. But your problem is that you cannot be in two places at once, and now I have to get my hands dirty." Josef looked at his hands with a pout. "I just got my cuticles done too."

              Shaking his head and looking at the paper with the information Mick wondered aloud, "Do you think we’ll be able to get to him in time?"

              "Maybe, but it's been almost two days. So we can guarantee he's experiencing horrible blood lust by now. We have to hope his will is strong enough, or that he is the most stubborn person in the universe."

              "So, if he can’t be saved it is a cleanup mission? You need me to put him down too?"

              "Use your judgment, if you believe he hasn’t gone off the deep end bring him in, otherwise yes, you will have to put him down. Now, if you will excuse me, I have a rogue to catch." He paused for a moment, "Rogue hunter. Sounds sexy don’t you think?" the smirk was back on Josef’s face. "Take care and don’t get dead." With that piece of advice, Josef walked out of the apartment, setting the empty glass of blood on the table before doing so.

              Mick grabbed a glass of blood for himself and paced his apartment. He would have to call Beth and cancel. She’d understand though. She knew how dangerous rogues could be because the last time he had one for a case she was right beside him.

              _She would probably want to come with me._ He thought to himself but he didn’t know how dangerous this case would be and was scared she would get hurt.

            He took another look at the name and medical description on the paper Josef handed him. It wasn’t much but was enough to find him in the hospital. "Shawn Spencer: 5’10", 172 lbs, brown hair, hazel eyes."


	2. One Step Behind

**Chapter 2- One Step Behind**

              After the Doctor's bombshell announcement the hospital room went completely silent for at least two minutes.

              "What do you mean nothing is wrong?" Henry said tentatively. "You mean the stitches look good, right?"

              "No Mr. Spencer..." Dr. Grey said disbelievingly, "There is _nothing_ wrong. There is no cut, but the stitches still seem to be here. They just are not stitching anything."

              Shawn looked and sure enough, it looked like his arm had been given fifteen stitches for no reason. Without turning his head and giving himself away he checked the parts of him that were road-rashed from his skid. There were no cuts there either, not even scars or bruises. Basically no evidence he had been in a crash at all besides a freaked out doctor and a destroyed motorcycle.

              Dr. Grey turned and addressed Shawn. "I can’t explain it, I stitched up your arm myself. Y-you were bleeding..." He grabbed the chart and started reading frantically.

              Henry looked at his son's arm for himself. "Kid, do they hurt?"

              "Not really." Shawn sat up a bit and briefly locked eyes with Gus. His best friend had not moved from where he stood by the window and was flicking his eyes back and forth between Shawn's arm and the doctor with a worried expression.

              Putting the chart back down Dr. Grey excused himself and rushed out of the room without another word to the shocked men.

              Another uncomfortable silence descended on the room. Usually Shawn would break them with a snarky retort or a funny observation but Gus could see that his friend was freaking out. When Shawn was not talking, that was not a good thing no matter what Carlton Lassiter says. Shawn was completely lost in his thoughts, reliving every single moment he was conscious in the past twenty four hours that would explain anything about what was going on.

              Gus was also freaking out, but in his own way, the stating the obvious and repeating himself way. "Shawn, you just healed from a life threatening wound over night! How is that even medically and physically possible?" Gus looked at Henry for help.

              "I think I know how." Henry interjected. "The doctor made a mistake. Lots of patients and an overworked doctor, it could and does happen."

              "But that doesn't make any sense! He lost a lot of blood! We both saw what he looked like when we got in here after he had the seizure." Gus pointed out.

              "Listen, all this could have been because he was given blood when he didn't need it and was probably given the wrong blood type." Henry looked at Shawn who was still silent. "SHAWN!" Shawn jumped and looked up at his father. "What did you remember about your accident?"

              "Dad, can we not do this right now?" Shawn snapped, "If I am okay, I just want to get out of here and back to the SBPD ASAP." He began to un-wrap his arm from the now useless bandages. Shawn saw there was blood on them but he hid it from the other men in the room. "I don't want to have them charging you for services I’m not using and I want to see Jules."

              "Shawn you’re over reacting. We _can_ see that something happened to you and you still need to sit tight until they can figure out what it was." Henry stood up from Shawn's side and paced the room. "Why is it that every time you end up in the hospital something weird happens?" Henry sighed. "Why don't we get some sleep and I’ll call Juliet and Carlton tomorrow to tell them what is going on."

              Shawn fell back into bed. "Okay fine dad, but when I get out of here, I want my smoothie. My mouth is craving a plethora of delicious flavor."

              All three men settled down for the rest of the night but only two got any sleep. Shawn did try but he kept feeling too hot and uncomfortable in the hospital bed. Plus it was way too loud. Every footstep and machine beep seemed to resonate in his skull. By the time morning came he was incredibly grumpy and his head hurt.

\---------------------------------------------

              Around 8am when breakfast arrived, Dr. Grey walked in. Shawn noticed the bags were almost gone from under his eyes and he was wearing cleaner clothes. He had to have gone home and gotten some rest after the shock of thinking he screwed up really bad on a patient. Gus and Henry were just rubbing the sleep from their eyes and sat up as the doctor came through the door. The nurse started handing out trays to each of them. Shawn's looked considerably less appetizing than his father’s and Gus' but beggars couldn’t be choosers.

              Gus immediately put on his patented "Hey There" face and made eyes at the nurse. Henry rolled his eyes and dug into the food, completely used to this behavior from his son’s friend.

              Shawn sniffed his plate. Broth, lime Jell-O and milk. "Liquid diet, nice." Shawn pouted. He was suddenly not very hungry at all. He pushed the tray away from him and waited for the doctor to finish talking to the departing nurse.

              After a minute Dr. Gray approached the group.  "Gentlemen, I want to apologize for my behavior earlier. I’ve checked with the other hospital staff and the EMTs that picked Shawn up from his accident and they did say his arm was severely injured. I can’t explain why the injury is no longer there but I can assure you that it did happen and I did not accidentally stitch up Shawn's arm for no reason. We would like to keep Shawn for a day or so to run some tests to see what happened to give him such a miraculous recovery."

              "Yeah, sorry I am not up for tests." Shawn said as he started to get out of bed. "Gus here would like some tests though. Maybe you can figure out why his head is so magically delicious."

              "Stop comparing my head to Lucky Charms Shawn." Gus glared at his friend.

              "Shawn, don’t be an idiot." Henry admonished his son, "There could be complications later on."

              Shawn started to pull out the IVs carefully. He knew from experience yanking them out really hurts. He had his dad and a poisoning, murdering lesbian to thank for that one. The doctor raised a finger in Shawn's direction but decided not to argue. "The only complication is that somehow overnight I became Wolverine and I have no idea how it happened."

              "We will need you to sign some forms but if you insist we can’t keep you here against your will Shawn." Dr. Grey explained.

              "Dad, could you give Jules a call. I don't know what happened to my phone and I will be _damned_ if I have to spend two hours sitting in between you guys in the truck." Shawn rubbed his hand where he had pulled out the IVs, he expected a lingering stinging sensation, but there was nothing. Casually glancing at his hand he noticed the hole where the IV was inserted was also no longer noticeable. Shawn nervously looked around to see if anyone else had noticed. By the way the others were still talking he figured they hadn’t. "Dad, on second thought I’ll call Jules." Henry handed him his phone.

              Shawn turned his back to Henry and Gus who immediately stopped eating. "SHAWN!" Both shouted at the same time. After getting his attention Gus pointed to his backside and Henry said, "Son, you’re in a hospital gown."

              Mortified, Shawn ran his bare backside into the bathroom. "Doctor... could you mind bringing me some clothes?" He yelled through the door.

\--------------------------------

              "Miraculous recovery! Yes, that is what they said." Shawn strutted out of the hospital, pausing to rub his eyes as he stepped into the sunlight. Juliet, Gus and Henry were at his side and a phone to his ear. "Yeah mom, I’ll remember to take care of myself... Okay, love you too." With a smile Shawn hung up the phone. "Dad, Mom says hi."

              "That is nice of her." Henry said with a twinkle in his eye. He still had a thing for his ex-wife even though they had been divorced for many years.

              Shawn continued, "She also said that Andy Worhol wants his curtains back."

              "What?" Henry looked at Shawn confused, before realizing where he was looking. His shirt. It was mostly yellow with bright designs on it. "There’s nothing wrong with my shirt Shawn! It is a styling and perfectly nice shirt." Henry tended to get defensive when Shawn made fun of his clothes.

              Juliet stepped forward before Henry got any more indignant about the shirt and turned towards Shawn, "Good to see your humor is still intact Shawn." She took his hand. She had driven down from Santa Barbara to pick him up. He sounded great on the phone which was a surprise since the last time she had seen him he was covered in blood and on a gurney. She had cried for a day straight but was not family and was unable to see him. She had to return to work the second day. Chief Vick and Carlton had made sure she was okay, but only the Chief had asked about Shawn. Juliet knew her partner Carlton did not care for Shawn's methods but did not actually hate him. He just liked to put on a show.

              As Shawn leaned in for a kiss, Juliet put a finger up to his lips. "I have something for you." She smiled and reached into her vehicle only to pull out a large pineapple smoothie.

              Shawn eagerly held his hands out and took the Smoothie. "You complete me!" Shawn said happily, then turned to Juliet who finally let him kiss her. "I love you too Jules." She smiled in triumph, having actually been able to surprise her psychic boyfriend.

Shawn was incredibly hungry. He had only been able to drink a small amount of water and no food since before his accident over two days ago. It wasn't for lack of trying. After the doctor left he had turned to his food tray and attempted to eat some pudding. He doesn't know how they made pudding so disgusting but he figured it was just because it was hospital food. Salivating over the ambrosia in his hand he said goodbye to his Dad and Gus before getting in Juliet's car. He took a long sip on the straw sticking out of his smoothie. He managed to hide his gagging from Juliet who was really proud she had gotten him something he really liked... unfortunately it was also the worst pineapple smoothie he had ever tasted. He looked at the logo on the cup as they pulled out onto the highway to head home, and swore he would never eat at that place ever again.

\------------------------------------------

              Mick St. John pulled into the hospital parking lot around 11am. He was not a happy camper. He had tried last night to be able to get into the hospital and see Shawn Spencer but was turned away due to not being a family member. He eventually had to return home and get some sleep. He had gotten up as soon as he could and rushed over to see if he could get into see him today.

              As he got out of his car he noticed a group of people leaving the hospital. A young man on a phone was being escorted out by a woman and two men, one white and older, one black. The woman handed the young man a large cup and Mick smiled at the gesture because he had never seen a full grown man's face light up so much over a beverage. The couple kissed and got into their vehicle. The other two were still talking as Mick passed by them. The old man was arguing with the black man, who smelled oddly of Lavender, about who would drive.

              Shaking his head he headed into the hospital, only to be greatly disappointed to learn that Shawn Spencer was discharged no more than Ten minutes earlier on his own accord.

              "Is there any way you could tell me which town he was going to?" Mick showed the nurse his Private Investigator badge.

              "I cannot divulge that information sir." the nurse said stubbornly, "But I can tell you that the Santa Barbara police called here every day to see how he was doing."

              "Thank you very much." Mick hurried out of the hospital and put his sunglasses on.

              Once behind the wheel he banged his head on it. It was going to take him a couple hours to drive to Santa Barbara and on a sunny day like this it was going to be miserable and almost impossible. Too much sun could kill a vampire but it didn't immediately burst them into flames as the movies love to portray. He wondered how Shawn was going to fare, would he know enough to get into a trunk or cover up? Were the police the ones transporting him? Was he a criminal? Mick hated running into situations half cocked so he figured some research was in order. Josef would not be up yet so he could not really call and tell him what was going on. Plus he also had to figure out where this guy even lived. Speeding out of the parking lot, Mick headed home to get some clothes that covered him up better and to get his lap top for the research hoping he would not be too late again.


	3. Chilling Revelations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is something in the chapter that is similar to a scene in "Chivalry is Not Dead, but Someone Is" and it is PURELY coincidental. I hadn't even seen the episode before I wrote this. I just figured it was something Shawn would do. I guess I was right. :)

**Chapter 3- "Chilling Revelations"**

              By the time Shawn and Juliet pulled up in front of Shawn's apartment he was in such a bad way that Juliet regretted taking her boyfriend out of the hospital in the first place. About half an hour into the ride, she had looked over at Shawn and noticed he was sweating so badly that his shirt was almost soaked through. Shawn looked incredibly uncomfortable and constantly shielded his eyes. As soon as she turned on the air conditioning he visibly relaxed, "Thanks Jules." Shawn sighed as he sank lower into the passenger seat.

              It wasn't long before even the air conditioner was not working. Shawn groaned and took off his shirt. He was glad he was wearing shorts or his pants would have come off too and as sexy as that sounded, he really wasn't in the mood right now.

              "Shawn are you alright? You look like you're running a fever." Juliet gave him a concerned look.

              Panting but not willing to have her worry about him, he put on his best smirk, "I'm just too hot for my shirt Jules. It just cannot take the awesomeness that is _me_." He gestured to his torso.

              Juliet knew Shawn enough to know he was hiding his discomfort. "You feel like lying down in the back? We still have a ways to go and it will get you out of the sun."

              Giving in, Shawn agreed and they pulled onto the turn ramp and headed into a gas station. Shawn readied the back seat while Juliet used the little girls' room. He was just about to step in when a group of men approached the vehicle. Shawn instinctively turned around when he heard multiple footfalls approaching him. There were four guys, all with tattoos, all with dangerous looks on their faces, all had their eyes on the half naked, seemingly helpless dude who had his car wide open for the taking.

              "Yo man." The first one stepped forward towards Shawn who had backed up as far as he could, a natural avoider of physical confrontation. "Nice ride."

              "Hey there dudes." Shawn put on his best smile, "Nice tats. I left mine at home or we would totally match."

              The gangster continued not sure if he was just insulted or not. "You mind if we use your car homes?"

              Shawn blinked in the afternoon sun and wiped the sweat from his face. "Seriously?" He said through squinted eyes, "Does that line ever work for you guys? Does someone just give over their car because you walk up and ask?" Shawn feigned surprise. "Wow, if I knew it was that easy I would have done it a while ago rather than fork out so much money for a new ride."

              One of the bigger guys, the muscle Shawn figured, stepped closer to him. "You shouldn't be such a wise ass right now man. We could really mess you up."

              Not able to stop himself from speaking out of fatigue, grumpiness and sheer spite Shawn shot back with, "You mean you could make me look like you?"

              A fist hit his face an instant later. Then a fist hit his gut. Rage Shawn could not suppress boiled up inside him. He went from bending over in pain to bringing up his right arm in an uppercut to the guy's chin. That guy had to have flown Ten feet backwards.

              Disbelief covered the faces of the guy's three friends. Shawn stood upright glaring at the confused men. "I would really get the hell out of here before my girlfriend shows up. She is meaner than I am, and she is armed."

              The gangsters almost fell all over themselves. Glancing back a few times as they  picked up their dazed friend and scurried to their car. Shawn made sure he was alone before making a pained face, hopping up and down and shaking his knuckles which hurt from the impact with the guy's skull. "The Catch, one! Gangsters Zip!" Shawn said using his super hero name. His victory was short lived as a splitting pain shot through his head. Was it him or did the sun just get 50 times brighter. Wincing, he climbed into the back seat and curled up into a ball.

              Shawn's hand had already stopped hurting by the time Juliet returned but his headache was worse. Juliet could tell Shawn was still sick, but was too damn stubborn to admit it, she knew pushing him would not work but if he got any worse she would head to the Santa Barbara hospital instead of his apartment.

              "Hey Jules." Shawn groaned. Thinking something was wrong Juliet spun around only to see Shawn with a small smile on his face. "You are so Driving Miss Daisy right now."

              Rolling her eyes and turning back around Juliet sighed, "That doesn't make any sense Shawn..."

\-----------------------------------------------

              At the apartment building, Juliet got out of the vehicle first and went around to help Shawn out. He looked a little bit better, he had stopped sweating at least. "Are you sure you don't want to come over to my place for a while or have me stay here till my shift?"

              Shawn could completely understand Juliet's concern but after the day he had he honestly just wanted to be left alone, "Jules, I just want to go get some sleep." He may have said it a bit harshly by the hurt look on Juliet's face. Feeling instantly like a jerk, he grabbed her hand and with his other hand put it to his temple. "The spirits are telling me that I have seemed like an ass and should apologize." Shawn grabbed Juliet gently by the shoulders and put his face close to hers. Their lips barely touching.

              "I don't mean to be a hard case Jules. I am just tired. I will be fine in the morning." Shawn said quietly.

              "You take care of yourself, and call me if you need anything." Juliet whispered back to him putting Shawn's phone, she had gotten from Henry that morning, into his hand.

              They separated and Juliet went back to her car. Shawn gave a feeble wave as she pulled away. He walked slowly into his apartment building. Shawn was sorry to see Juliet go but he wanted some time to think. He had so many people worrying over him it was hard to be himself at the moment. He had to make so many promises today to take care of himself, to be careful, to call if he needed anything it made him feel like he was a bubble boy.

              The apartment was sparsely decorated with plants that Shawn had moved around with him from each place he had lived. He moved because he had needed more room since he had a girlfriend again. Also, business was good and he could afford an actual apartment instead of living in a refurbished store.

              Collapsing on his bed he shut his eyes and tried to pass out. He lay there for at least an hour before he realized he was too hot and hungry to sleep. His dad had always said that if you cannot sleep, you need to get out and do something to make yourself tired. He didn't have much food in the apartment since moving last month and he realized he didn't have his wallet. "Dad must still have it." he reasoned.

              Shawn got an idea. Gus always kept emergency food in the fridge at the office. He sat up, instantly feeling dizzy and collapsing back onto the bed.

              He needed something to eat badly. Sitting up slower this time, he managed to get standing without falling over. He didn't have any transportation and not wanting to call and bug anyone Shawn decided to walk. The office was only fifteen minutes away and he had always enjoyed walking, so he figured it might put him in a better mood. Grabbing his sunglasses he left the apartment and headed for the Psych office.

\----------------------------------

              Shawn realized he made a mistake in walking about five minutes into it. He started to sweat again in the hot Santa Barbara sun. The sunglasses helped but damn, he felt stupid for having tried to do this alone. It was too late to call anyone because by the time they came and got him he would be at the office. Gritting his teeth he tried to walk more quickly. People were noticing the sweating and groaning guy walking down the street and it made Shawn self-conscious enough to have to wave at everyone who went by and loudly comment on the twenty mile run he had just completed. Besides some head shakes the staring people seemed to buy it.

              As soon as he got to the office he saw Gus' blueberry was already there. Feeling a bit better that his friend would be there to help him out he entered the office with a little more speed than usual. His heart sank a bit when he saw that all the lights were off and no one was around. "He must have left his car here when my dad picked him up to get to the hospital and visit me." Shawn thought disappointed. Remembering what he came here for Shawn went to the fridge and sure enough he found that Gus had loaded it with snacks. Thinking back he remembered Gus say that the season finale of American Duos was on tonight. A four hour special that Gus did not want to miss, even to get something to eat. Looking at his clock Shawn saw it was almost five in the afternoon by now and the show started at 6pm. Gus had to be back by then.

              Grabbing some left over jerk chicken he ate three pieces before realizing that the chicken he normally loved, and could eat at least three pounds of himself... was disgusting. Shawn grabbed some of Gus' pudding, nachos from the cupboard, cheese and crackers, soda. Nothing tasted good or got rid of the horrible craving he was feeling. Opening the fridge for one last look he leaned in to check out the food in the back when he felt something. The cold. It felt wonderful. Hesitating only a moment before grabbing everything off of the shelves, and then the shelves themselves out of the fridge. Shawn leaned into the appliance enjoying the cool air. He was suddenly glad they got a larger one when their other fridge broke down. Climbing into the fridge he figured it would be better if he shut the door and turned up the coldness, so he did. It was not comfortable per se but it let him relax like he had not relaxed in days. His last thought before passing out was wondering how mad Gus would be about the snacks.

\---------------------------------------

              Gus returned to the office around 5:30pm. Just enough time to set up the snacks, go get Shawn and have a relaxing night watching his favorite show. When Gus walked up to the door he found that it was unlocked and there were lights on inside. Shaking his head Gus thought, "Shawn must already be here. I hope the stubborn ass didn't walk."

              As he entered it was evident that a food tornado had happened or Shawn got hungry and took a bit from every single food item in the office. Angry, Gus walked closer to the refrigerator and noticed even the shelves were out of it. "Shawn! Shawn!" Gus shouted. Gus squinted at the scene. He wasn't as good at noticing things as Shawn but he did think that this was not right. Shawn was an inconsiderate snot every once and a while but he would never do anything like this and not be around waiting to give some kind of impossible explanation for why he did something so stupid. Stepping up to the fridge he carefully pulled open the door. A rush of cold air came cascading out. Cold vapor blocked his view for a second before he realized Shawn's dead body was inside the fridge.

              A high pitched girlish scream came out of Gus as he backed up to the far wall. "Oh God SHAWN!" Someone had killed him and stuffed him into the fridge! "What if the killer is still here?" Gus thought terrified.

              Not wanting to look at his dead best friend, he inched his way along the wall, eyes turned away from the ghastly sight... until he heard a cough. His eyes were instantly on Shawn. He was stirring in the fridge and moaned a bit. It was not a painful moan. Gus knew Shawn's painful moans by now. He had seen his friend get hurt more times than he could count. This was his "Five more minutes Gus." moan.

              Anger again replaced the relief he had from realizing his friend was not dead. He was just sleeping. Sleeping in the refrigerator!

              He walked up to Shawn and shook him. "Shawn, SHAWN!"

              "Wazzat... what Gus?" Shawn's right eye opened a fraction.

              "What are you doing sleeping in a refrigerator Shawn?" Gus was furious.

              "Trying to get some beauty rest. It feels good." Shawn mumbled.

              "I thought you were dead!" Gus whined.

              "Well obviously I am not!" Shawn was getting angry. He was getting the first sleep in days and Gus was completely ruining it.

              "This is crazy Shawn! You can't sleep in a fridge. What is wrong with you?" Gus tried pulling on his friend's arm.

              "Ok fine Gus. I will get out of the fridge! Geez you don't have to be such a nodule on an unripe pumpkin!" Shawn clamored ungracefully out of the fridge, almost falling on his face at one point because his foot caught on the edge, then almost tripped on the cheese tray. He gave Gus one last glare and stormed into Psych's bathroom.

              As Shawn left the room, Gus took out his phone and immediately called Juliet.

              "Detective Juliet speaking."

              Gus whispered into the phone so Shawn wouldn't be able to hear. "Juliet, you need to get down here right now. There is something seriously wrong with Shawn. I found him sleeping in our refrigerator! He looks horrible. There has to be something else wrong with him."

              "I will need your help convincing him to go to a hospital, you know how he is when he is sick." Gus could hear the concern in Juliet's voice.

              Gus looked in the direction of the bathroom. "He is scaring me Juliet. I have never seen him act like this, and he has done a lot of weird stuff."

              "Alright, I will be over as soon as I can. I will bring Lassiter just in case."

              "Please hurry because..."

              "GUS!" Shawn screamed from the bathroom. "GUS!!"

              Gus had never heard Shawn so desperate, "I have to go, please hurry!" Gus threw the phone down and ran into the bathroom.

\----------------------------------------------

_**Two minutes earlier:** _

              Shawn stomped into the bathroom and slammed the door. He knew he shouldn't be mad at Gus. It was really creepy to be sleeping in a fridge. If he would have found Gus like that he would have tied him up, stole his blueberry and taken him to the loony bin himself. Even though the loony bin wasn't all that bad, he knew that by experience, but the concept was there.

              "Juliet, you need to get down here right now." Shawn heard Gus say though the door.       

              "He doesn't have to shout. Maybe he wants me to hear him." Shawn speculated. "Maybe he wants me to be angry. He must not even really care about me." Shawn was sick, tired, hungry, thirsty, and pissed off. He growled and started for the door. If Gus wanted to piss him off, he did it. He reached for the handle and stopped. Gus was still on the phone with Juliet and he sounded genuinely worried.

              "He’s scaring me Juliet, I have never seen him act like this..."

              "What am I doing!" he asked himself, while backing away from the door. "I almost wanted to kick the crap out of Gus." He groaned and clutched his stomach. "What is wrong with me?"

              Shawn started to feel hot, so he walked up to the sink and splashed some cold water on his face then groped for the towel on the rack. He finished drying his face and looked up in the mirror.

              He didn't recognize himself at first. He was ghostly pale, even his lips. His hazel eyes had turned white and the skin around his eyes had a reddish tint. Shawn moved closer to the mirror to get a better look, but when he did he caught a flash of something underneath his lip. He reached up and pushed it back and saw a pair of fangs. They are what pushed him over the edge.

              "GUS! GUS!"

              Gus burst into the bathroom after hearing his best friend’s cries for help. He found Shawn collapsed near the sink with his hands over his face. "Shawn! Oh my God, are you okay?" he reached down to help Shawn to his feet. He felt very hot and was extremely sweaty.

              Shawn uncovered his face, "Gus, there is something wrong with me! I am hallucinating… I have to be hallucinating!" Shawn got his face directly in Gus’. "Is there something wrong with my eyes?"

              Gus, used to having his personal space constantly invaded, looked at Shawn’s eyes. "They have a tinge of yellow in them. You might be having a liver problem! We gotta go now Shawn!" Gus took Shawn’s shoulder and started leading him out into the lobby of Psych. "Yellow? Are you going color blind? They were white a minute ago."

              "The whites of your eyes are normally WHITE Shawn."

              "No, no, I meant the… ARG!" Shawn fell to the floor and curled into a ball.

              Giving up trying to carry him, Gus grabbed his phone and called 911 just as Juliet burst in the building followed by Carlton who had a gun drawn.

              "I heard screaming what is going on…?" Juliet saw Shawn on the floor and ran to him. "Oh no Shawn what happened? Shawn speak to me?" She knelt down and took Shawn’s head in her lap.

              Shawn opened his eyes and looked at his girlfriend. "Jules I might be dying. When I am gone, don’t forget to feed my fish."

              "You don’t have any fish Spencer." Carlton said confused.

              "Yeah but you could buy some fish and then feed them for me." Exasperated that Shawn would still be joking at a time like this, Juliet looked up to see if Gus had the ambulance coming.

              "Take deep breaths through your nose." Carlton interjected, "It will help with the nausea."

              Shawn took a deep breath through his nose to calm down, it would do no good to panic and get his friends upset. As he inhaled he realized, Juliet smelled good, really good today.

              "Your perfume is amazing Jules." He moved closer to her neck smelling the intoxicating aroma.

              Juliet moved back a little bit from his advance. "Shawn I am not wearing perfume and you should be lying down." She pushed his head back onto her lap. "Gus what is going on?"

              "I found him on the floor in the bathroom, look at his eyes." Carlton and Juliet looked at Shawn’s eyes as Gus continued, "They're yellow, and he said something about hallucinating. I think he might be jaundiced, could be something happened to his liver when he got the wrong blood."

              Sirens off in the distance caused them all to look out the window momentarily. When Juliet looked back down Shawn had moved up towards her face again. "This is not the time to kiss Shawn, you’re really sick. Lie still."

              Shawn robotically put his head back down. Carlton squinted and got a concerned look on his face. "O’Hara… look at his eyes."

              Juliet glanced exasperatedly up at her partner, "I’ve seen his eyes Carlton."

              "Juliet LOOK at his eyes." Carlton looked very serious and only used her first name when he really wanted her attention.

              Listening to her partner Juliet looked at his eyes again and something, besides the fact that they were yellow, bugged her. She had known Shawn for over six years now and he was always looking around, taking everything in, noticing everything, even if he was injured or in life or death situations. His eyes had a type of intelligence to them. "If he wasn’t psychic he would still make a great detective." She had mused many times before. Now his eyes had suddenly changed. They seemed to stare with a predatory alertness that she had never seen in him before, but had seen in others. Mostly in psychopaths and serial killers. That is what triggered Carlton’s nervousness. He saw it too.

              She didn’t have much time to muse on that fact because the EMTs had arrived and were beginning to move her away so they could get to Shawn. As he was being prepped, life returned to his eyes and he seemed scared and sad to be taken away from her. "Jules." He said weakly.

              Juliet grabbed his hand. "Lassiter and I will be right behind you."

              "Same for me. I will call your dad." Gus put his hand on Shawn's arm. "See you in a bit." Gus almost teared up when Shawn raised his fist for a bump but before Gus could do anything the paramedics wheeled him out of the office.

\------------------------------------

              While Carlton called the Chief and filled her in on the situation, Juliet and Gus contacted Shawn's father Henry.

              "Spencer here." the gruff voice answered.

              "Henry, you need to get to the hospital right away. Shawn had some kind of attack and collapsed." Juliet explained quickly.

              "Geezus that kid... Ok. I am on my way."

              Juliet hung up with Henry and turned to Gus. "He is on his way. Is there anything else you can tell me about Shawn?"

              Gus looked guilty. He felt he should keep his mouth shut as he knew Shawn would want him to do, so Juliet would not worry any more than she already was but still…

              Juliet could read Gus’ look well. Putting a hand on his arm she looked at him seriously. "Gus, anything you give us now could save Shawn’s life."

              Carlton, who had finished talking with the Chief heard Juliet’s statement and walked over to Gus. With his finger pointed in Gus’ face Carlton growled, "Listen Guster, you better come clean and tell us what the hell is going on with him!"

              After an angry tsk in Carlton’s direction, Gus turned to Juliet. "All I have noticed is that he hasn’t slept in days. Probably since he woke up after his seizures. I have not seen him really eat anything. It looks like he tried to here but it doesn’t look like anything was really finished… and oh yeah…" Gus paused for dramatic effect, "I found him sleeping in the refrigerator!"

              "Gus! You should have told me this stuff right away or at least when I picked him up this afternoon!" Juliet was extremely mad at Gus’ secrecy.

              "I know! But you know that Shawn can be the most stubborn guy in the world and if he found out I made a big deal about what was going on he would have been upset, and you know what happens when he gets upset. He becomes a bigger pain in the ass." Gus threw up his arms in defeat.

              Carlton looked at his watch and tried to usher the two arguing friends out the door. "You can talk about this on the way to the hospital. Lets go."

              They all hurried out the door to their vehicles. Gus completely forgetting to lock the door, slid into the driver’s seat of his Blue Berry and slammed his hands on the steering wheel. He had been so hurt and afraid when he thought Shawn was dead. He honestly did not know what he would do without his best bud in his life. He also did not want to find out anytime soon.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The refrigerator part is the first thing I ever wrote on this story just around the time I was finishing season 4. It is the idea that got me into Psych fanfiction and will always be one of my favorites.


	4. Saving Psychics

**Chapter 4- "Saving Psychics"**

              Mick St. John sat at his computer and grumbled. He had spent the last two hours on his laptop researching Shawn Spencer and had come up with two options for who he might be. He was either a consultant for the Santa Barbara Police Department, or a Spanish soap opera star. Mick had figured it was the former due to the police being at the hospital to visit him, not arrest him. _At least he isn’t a criminal._ Armed with the new information, he had driven the two hours to Santa Barbara.

              Mick started with Shawn’s last known residence. Shawn had occupied dozens of homes in the past few years and after some ground work Mick found out the newest listed one was not current.

              In his car Mick put his head in his hands and smoothed back his hair. He was running out of time. It had been a day already since he started tracking him and Mick was astounded he kept coming up empty handed. "This never happens to me." Mick said to himself. "I never lose someone this badly."

              Up till now, he had been reluctant to contact his only other source of information on Shawn. The SBPD. He didn’t want to get the police involved especially if end up getting rid of Shawn for everyone’s safety. This was a more likely scenario with each passing hour. Swallowing his pride and hoping for the best, Mick headed to the police station.

              Once at the station, Mick wasted no time in trying to find someone who knew Shawn. A tall man with short black hair and intense blue eyes accompanied by a familiar looking young woman with pulled back blond hair rushed past him as he entered.

              "O’Hara, I’ll drive." He reached out to catch the keys that immediately went flying his way and both hopped into an unmarked cruiser and drove off. Mick could tell they had been partners a long time. As he glanced back he noticed his path was blocked by a giant man with a big smile and black hair. He saw the name on the badge was "McNab."

              "Hey there. Can I help you with anything?"

              "Yeah, I need to know if you know anyone named Shawn Spencer." Mick figured if he could keep is inquiries at the lowest point in the hierarchy as possible, he might be able to get away without too many people knowing of his involvement.

              A sad look came over Buzz’s face. "I know Shawn, great guy. What did you need him for?"

              "I need some help with a case and I was told to look for him here." Mick smiled, trying to seem personal and unthreatening.

              "Well, any other day you would have come to the right place but he has been in the hospital the last few days. If you want I can get the Chief and she can tell you…."

              Mick interrupted him. "Nah, that’s okay. Say, could you tell me where to find him when he is feeling better?"

              "Yeah no problem. He has his own psychic detective agency called Psych."

            Even with excellent hearing Mick thought he heard the young cop wrong. "Psychic detective?"

              Knowing he was probably losing Shawn business Buzz tried to win Mick back. "He has solved a ton of cases for us and on his own. It’s really amazing to see him work, even if he has a unique way of doing things."

              Mick smirked, "You friends?" he asked.

              "Yeah, everyone here knows him. He has been with the department for over six years. Very likeable guy." Buzz looked down and sighed. "We’re all pretty worried about him."

              Mick’s phone started to ring and he knew it was time to get going anyway. Mick put on his best PR face and shook Buzz’s hand. "Well thank you for your time. Hope to see you around."

              "You too. Good luck with your case!" Buzz shouted Mick answered the phone and walked out of the station.

\----------------------------

              Mick looked at the caller ID and saw the call was from Josef. "Hey, what is up?"

              "Mick, you got anything yet?" Josef cut right to the chase.

              "I found out where the guy might be. No luck with his residences so I am going to head for his business. You find anything on the rogue?" Mick hopped into his car and took out his lab top. If the guy had a business, Mick hoped he had a website or even an address listed somewhere.

              "See here’s the thing…" Josef hesitated. "We lost him."

              "You what? He got away?" Mick said exasperatedly.

              "We have no more victims to trace him to. Remember the whole turning and not killing part?" Josef said indignantly. "It is hard to track someone who doesn’t leave you anything to track."

              "Alright Josef, you win. Just keep me posted." Mick went to hang up.

              "Hold up Mick!" Mick put the phone to his ear again. "I haven’t heard of any victims from the fledgling you are tracking down either. You think he croaked?"

              "I don’t think so, but if I find out I will let you know." Mick promised.

              "Oh!" Josef exclaimed, "There is one thing about the rogue that we did find out."

              Mick listened intently, "Yes?"

              "He is old. Like ME old. That _will_ make him harder to catch when we do find him. It will also make this Shawn guy tougher to beat too, so be careful."

              "You know you made me stronger when you changed me back after I took the cure, so it shouldn’t be too hard." Mick had found a temporary cure a few years ago and got to spend a few weeks as a human, before Beth was taken hostage by another vampire. The only way to save her was to be re-turned by Josef. The cure would have worn off eventually, it was made to do that, but with Beth in trouble Mick had to make a choice.

              "Don’t get cocky Mick." Josef warned. "Power doesn’t always have to do with sire’s age."       

              "Okay okay. I didn’t think you would be one to give me another lecture."

              "Sire’s take care of their babies Mick…" he said it like that because Josef knew Mick would fume over it. "At least they are supposed to take care of them, but right now I have my hands full trying to take care of someone else’s."

              "You mean the other surviving vampire? The one who told you what the rogue was doing in the first place?" Mick wondered what his friend was doing babysitting.

              "Yeah him. Having some problems with his friends but nothing I can’t handle at the moment." Josef’s tone suggested major annoyance. Mick decided not to push him on it.

              "Don’t strain yourself Josef. Catch you later." Mick hung up the phone and looked at his computer screen. While talking with Josef he found the official website for Psych. Mick smiled at the name. He thought it was fitting. In all his years he had never met a real psychic. Heck, in his opinion there were no such things as psychics. _But that is something that people say about vampires too so you never know._ Mick thought, trying to keep an open mind. He also found some news associated with the business and the police officer McNab was right. They had solved many high profile cases. He quickly read through a few of them and looked up the address for the office.

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              When Juliet, Gus and Carlton got to the hospital they ran up to the check in and asked where Shawn was. Before the receptionist could answer they heard a scream from down the hall. " _JULES!_ " Ignoring the receptionist’s protests they made a B-line for the hospital room.

              Juliet teared up when she saw Shawn. He had been strapped to the bed. They were trying to take blood and put in an IV. His wide eyes looked at her for help through the pain he was experiencing.

              Gus turned away and started shaking. Even Carlton turned pale. A doctor rushed in and looked at Shawn’s freshly drawn blood. It was unnaturally pale. "Get this man some transfusions immediately!" the doctor shouted and started putting a blood pressure cuff on the squirming Shawn.

              The doctor noticed the distraught group standing in the doorway. "You need to get out of the way! Someone get them out!"

              An orderly moved to push them out when the impossible happened. Carlton stepped forward. "Doctor, I have O-negative blood. If he needs it I can give it."

              Everyone froze. Even Shawn glanced up in surprise and mumbled incoherently through the oxygen mask he was wearing. The doctor broke the moment by sitting Carlton down in a chair next to Shawn’s bed and prepping him for the emergency transfusion. Gus grabbed Juliet and led her away as the doctor ordered Shawn’s blood to be sent to the lab for testing.

              Back in the waiting room Shawn’s father Henry was just checking in at the desk as the pair came up with haunted looks in their eyes.

              "What happened? Is that Shawn?" Henry could hear the screams from down the hall and rushed past Juliet and Gus to get to his son.

              Juliet started to cry again. Gus gave her arm a squeeze and said, "He’ll be okay. He is always okay."

              "What is going on? I’ve never seen anything like that." Juliet sniffed.

              "I don’t know, but it’s definitely something weird." Gus's brows were knit together. "I just wish I knew what it was."

\--------------------------------------

              Mick got out of the car and surveyed the Psych office. It could only be described from the outside as "Quaint." Bubbly green letters spelled out the word PSYCH on a picture window facing the ocean. Mick walked up to the door and found it surprisingly unlocked.

              He went inside. There was a waiting room connected to a larger room with two computer desks facing each other. Mick read that Shawn had a partner from some of the articles but it seemed like he went through them faster than he did apartments. They all had strange names too, Gus Silly pants Jackson, Ovaltine Jacobs, Longbranch Pennywhistle, Methuselah Honeysuckle… and it looked like he was currently working with a Burton Guster. Or so the name plate on the desk said. Also, by the looks of the place it was owned by ten year olds.

              Action figures and posters littered the shelves and walls. They had a set of lockers, a large screen TV and a fridge… which was currently standing wide open with food littered everywhere. Mick’s instincts led him to investigate the fridge. He took a long sniff and closed his eyes. The air was filled with the smell of fear, both human and vampire. He was here recently and by the looks of it he had tried to sleep in his fridge.

              When vampires want to sleep, they are instinctively drawn to cold. It is incredibly uncomfortable and almost impossible to sleep on a regular bed or even a couch. Mick slept in a freezer himself, abet a nicer glass one in a secret room but when you are desperate… a fridge could do. Mick approached the main sitting area cautiously. He noticed some of the furniture was knocked over. Another sniff told him that something had happened and four people had been involved. Three men and one woman.

              "Man!" Mick smacked himself on the head. He recognized at least three of the scents. Two were from the cops that hurried out of the station when he got there and another he recognized from the hospital in LA. The lavender smell from the black man outside the building. He had come so close and missed Shawn each time by minutes. Mick sniffed again, forcing himself to remember Shawn’s scent so he would know him if he saw him.

              Another call came to his phone just as he was standing up to leave. He recognized the number as his blood dealer Guillermo, a coroner vampire who got blood from dead bodies. It was all Mick drank. He got it pretty cheap considering he liked a blood type that was the vampire equivalent of an off brand. Josef actually liked the stuff too but would never admit to it.

              Wondering why Guillermo would call him at this time of day, Mick answered the phone, "St. John here."

              "Mick, it is Guillermo. I have some information for you about your case. I can tell you where your guy is right now."

Mick was dumbstruck. Guillermo knew where Shawn was? How? "Where is he? I need all the help I can get on this one."

              "I was on a website, Creepycadavers.com and I came across something." He said with more excitement in his Hispanic voice than usual.

              "Wait wait wait… creepy what?" Mick asked confused.

              "Cadavers Mick. It is a website where coroners tell about the weird bodies that come into their departments. One coroner named Necrobutcher56, real name Woodrow Strode is a coroner for the SBPD. This guy has had some real doozies! Flash drives in stomachs… serial killers…"

              Getting impatient Mick blurted out, "What does he have now Guillermo?"

              Taking an obvious deep breath Guillermo continued, "Vampire blood."

              That got Mick’s attention. "Did he say where it came from?"

              "He said the Santa Barbara hospital sent it to him because it seemed to be cadaver blood and the hospital thought it was sent to them by mistake. When he analyzed it the blood was found to have almost no hemoglobin. He figured out the hospital thought no one could live and be that low on hemoglobin. Which they really couldn’t." Guillermo added.

              "So he knows about vampires?" Mick wondered how many people were going to find out about vampires in one day.

              "Not really. Earlier this year it looks like he posted about a body drained of blood. He labeled it "Vampire victim" but it ended up being a killer who drained blood due to a hemoglobin disorder called Von Wilkinson’s disease. Could be just a running joke due to that but…" Guillermo hesitated.

              "…but it is worth checking out." Mick finished for him. Mick wrote down the hospital’s address. "Thanks man. Call Josef and let him know what you found. I am heading to the hospital." Mick hung up and hurried out the door. "Finally a break in the case. This guy is really starting to be a pain in my ass and I've never even met him."

\-------------------------------

              Watching from the shadows, the vampire growled as he watched Mick leave the Psych offices. He'd finally managed to track down his fledgling and ran into his worst fear. After overhearing the conversation, he knew he had to get to the hospital first before Mick decided Shawn was a danger and murdered Shawn, just like the others. He could tell his child was in a lot of pain, and he didn't want to lose another one. It couldn't happen again, he couldn't take it.

              "I'm coming Shawn...." He turned around, and sped toward Cottage Hospital.


	5. Shawn's Anatomy

**Chapter 5- "Shawn’s Anatomy"**

              Shawn could honestly say that if it wouldn’t have been for Yin and Yang almost killing everyone he loved, this would definitely be the worst day of his life. What was worse is going to have to live down the fact that Carlton had donated blood that saved his life.

              Currently, he was strapped to the hospital bed and almost every machine imaginable as well. Not to mention he was surrounded by cold packs in an attempt to get his fever down. At least his eyes weren’t yellow anymore.

              "So much for a miraculous recovery." He grumbled.

              Henry looked up from the magazine he was reading. "What?"

              "Nothing dad. Just getting comfortable."

              Henry rolled his eyes. "Shawn, until we figure out what is wrong you need to stay put. It is a wonder you are even conscious.

              Shawn pouted. He was feeling a lot better but being confined made him antsy. They took his blood and had sent it for tests over an hour ago and they hadn’t heard anything back yet. Juliet and Carlton had left earlier to finish their reports for the night. The chief had sent her best to Shawn but told the two detectives to get their butts back to the station.

              Gus had also headed off a few minutes earlier to go get some food for Henry and himself. He had asked Shawn if he wanted some food and made his worry face when he’d said no. "I’m fine. Peachy, pineappley, which ever word applies in a situation like this."

              Shawn insisted and he actually was pretty okay considering. He took stock of his condition. He was still a little hungry but oddly satisfied, which was weird because he had not eaten, and the cold packs were making him sleepy. Shawn tried to figure out what was going through his mind when he slept in the freezer. He was just going to chalk it up to being delirious from being sick.

              The nurse came in at the same time as Gus who was carrying a bag of hamburgers and fries. Gus stepped closer to Shawn’s bed, trying to sneakily bring it closer to Shawn so he could grab it with his strapped hands if he wanted.

              Shawn sniffed but ignored the food.

              Defeated, Gus handed Henry his half and sat down next to Shawn’s bed. The nurse checked to make sure all of his lines were okay and the straps were tight.

              Wincing at the tightening of the straps, Shawn gave the nurse a pouty look. "Um, would you be able to take these off now? I am totally over my Faruza Balk from the Craft phase."

              The nurse raised an eyebrow. "The doctor wants to keep you in these for a while longer. You apparently tried to bite at the paramedics."

              Shawn indignantly looked away. "That doesn’t sound like me."

              "What are you talking about Shawn?" Gus interjected. "Your first line of defense is to bite someone." He was obviously indicating the Mantis issue from a few months before.

              Shawn scowled, complaining, "That is SO not true!" Then he smiled innocently. "It is my second line of defense. My first line is a flying monkey leap and you know it Gus. Whaaaat?" The two friends bumped fists.

              Still not deterred despite his attempt at humor, Shawn tried to think of an excuse to get them off. "Can I be let out of these if I say I have to use the bathroom?"

              "That is not necessary sir." The nurse smiled because she knew what he was trying to do. "You have a catheter in."

              "Shawn looked confused, "What does having a priest here have to do with my bladder being full?"

              "Not a catholic Shawn! Catheter." Henry clarified. "It is something they connect to you so you don’t have to get up to use the restroom."

              "What?!" Shawn looked down as much as he could and he turned beat red. "You guys are not telling Jules about this!"

              "Shaking his head Henry looked at the nurse. "What’s going on? The blood test was sent a long time ago."

              "I am not sure sir. We’re busy today but I can go check for you." The nurse walked toward the door and looked back at Gus with a wink.

              Shawn politely waited for the woman to leave before glaring accusingly at his friend. "Gus, you totally didn’t hit on that nurse before you came in the room did you?"

              "I don’t know what you are insinuating. I was merely holding the door for her." Gus took a big bite of his burger so he wouldn’t have to talk about it.

              Henry moved closer to his son. Who collapsed exasperated back on is pillow. "I know you want out but we don’t know what’ll happen if they release you from the hospital again."

              "Don’t worry about me so much dad, I’m not a kid." Shawn complained.

              "You are _my_ kid, and I don’t want to see anything happen to you." Henry had long since perfected his "Dad" voice.

              Shawn shrugged, "You never know. Once I get out of here I could be in a side show, world’s fastest healing human. One cut for one dollar!" Shawn used his best announcer voice.

              Gus snorted but Henry was fuming. "Shawn, you’re scared to death right now. How hard is that to admit? Your friends and family are going to worry about you no matter how hard you try to protect them from the truth!" Henry was angry. He knew if Shawn had just been honest about how he was feeling from the start, none of this would have happened.

              Shawn’s face twisted with rage. "I know dad! I am scared, fine. I admit it but what good is it going to do? I haven’t slept, eaten, or been able to drink anything in over three days. You think my head’s not a complete wreck? I saw your face Gus!" he said turning to his friend. "I heard what you said to Jules on the phone about being afraid of me."

              Gus gave Henry a guilty look when the older man turned to glare accusingly at him.

              "I’ve been scared of myself too you know, and if the only thing that’s making me feel better is the fact that my snarky eloquence is still intact…well, then I am going to _snark_ it up!" He ended with a dramatic point in Henry’s direction.

              Both Gus and Henry’s eyes got big as dinner plates.

              "What?!" Shawn demanded, still angry from his rant. When their expressions never changed his attitude instantly went to concern. "What guys?"

              "Uh Shawn, your arm." Gus eeked out.

              "What about…." Shawn started until he looked at his hand. It was free from restraint. It had ripped right out and through the thick straps like nothing. He hadn’t even noticed it.

              "Gus. Could I speak to you for a moment?" Henry pulled him towards the door.

              "We’ll be right back Shawn. You need some time to cool down." Gus and Henry disappeared out the door.

              "Wait! I didn’t… C’mon!" Shawn stuttered but the door had closed behind them. "Damn it!" Shawn hit the bed with his free hand. He just literally, single handedly drove away his support system. Using Carlton’s voice he said to himself. "Spencer what the hell is with you?"

              He glanced at the other restraints. No rips and all were connected tightly. "Could have been a fluke…" He rationalized, but he had the feeling he was just lying to himself now.

\-------------------------------------

 

            Shawn was still trying to figure out how he did it when coroner Woody burst in the room unannounced. He quickly shut the door behind him and looked to see if anyone was coming. When he turned around, Shawn could see he was smiling from ear to ear.

              "Shawn! Buddy! I heard you were here." Woody plopped down in a chair by the bedside.

              Still not in the best of moods but not wanting to take his anger out on someone that didn’t deserve it, Shawn attempted to be polite. Covering his eyes in frustration he said through gritted teeth, "Woods, buddy… this is not the best time."

              Woody looked down at Shawn, he was still smiling. "Well, I have something that will cheer you up." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a vial of pale red liquid. It was in a sealed test tube so Shawn figured it was blood. It looked off though, too pale to be right. Woody explained, "Some guys in the lab came across a blood test that was accidentally sent to them instead of the coroner. Well, I help out here once and a while when SBPD business is slow and got to check out the blood."

              Shawn looked at the bar code numbers on the blood test. They matched the numbers on his hospital wrist band. He started to get a very sinking feeling. "Uh, what do you mean it was accidentally sent to the lab and not the coroner?"

              "Well I could see why they thought it was corpse blood. The hemoglobin count was too low for anyone to live." Woody shrugged, shaking the vial.

              Shawn distinctly remembered the doctor screaming to give him an immediate transfusion. He never realized how close to death he actually was.

              "Anywho," Woody continued, "I remembered that case you were on about that guy who needed blood transfusions to live and did a little experiment. I added some fresh blood to see what would happen. You know, for science, and the reaction was amazing! The blood came alive. I checked it out again under a scope and you couldn’t tell it was any different than any other blood, besides the fact that the red cells seemed to be extremely active." Shawn could see that Woody was really excited to talk about this and any other time Shawn would be right there with him, but it was his blood that Woody was talking about.

              "Do you realize what I am telling you Shawn? This very well could be real vampire blood!" Woody finished the sentence with a flourish expecting the usual big reaction out of his friend.

              Shawn was silent and had a blank look on his face. Woody was extremely concerned that his normally hyper buddy had no reaction to that type of reveal. "Shawn? Shawn?"

              Shawn could no longer hear Woody. He was too busy putting the pieces of the puzzle in his head together…

…the stranger coming into his room with a bag of blood….

              "Hey Shawn Gus said when you go quiet it means you are freaking out."

…passing up all his favorite foods…

              "Shawn you okay?"

…choking on the taste of water…

              "Woody to Shawn! Come in Shawn!"

…overheating in the sun…

              "Should I get the nurse?"

…the teeth he saw in the bathroom mirror…

              "Are you having a vision?"

…and feeling like hell the longer he was out of the hospital not getting…

              "Blood transfusions!" Shawn suddenly shouted. He and Woody both looked at the blood bags attached to Shawn’s arm.

              Woody was probably the best pathologist Shawn had met but when he got on a tangent, it was like he had on blinders. The blinders were off now. Woody saw all the machines Shawn was hooked up to; tubes hung off almost every part of his body, saline, two blood bags, catheter, heart monitor, O2 sensor, ice packs all over his body and straps.

              "Shawn what the hell happened to you?" Woody asked sympathetically.

              "Well according to you," Shawn said with no trace of humor and his voice starting to crack, "I am a vampire."

              "You!?" Woody grabbed Shawn’s chart and read the numbers comparing them to the test tube. The hurt and guilt that showed on Woody’s face was enough to bring tears to Shawn’s eyes. "Oh man, I am so sorry! I didn’t mean to… I was just joking. You know me! Always a kidder."

              Rolling over as much as he could so Woody would not see him cry, Shawn whispered, "Makes sense though."

\-----------------------

              Mick made it to the hospital in about fifteen minutes. It took him a while to find Cottage Hospital, as it was more of a compound of different buildings than just a single one. He really hoped Guillermo’s info was good though. Shawn would be less dangerous if he was getting blood in the hospital, but Mick needed to get to him now.

              Since it was getting late in the evening there was only one nurse at the check in station. "Excuse me miss? IS there a Shawn Spencer admitted here?"

              The nurse looked up and smiled, "He is a popular guy tonight! Yes he is here but he is in intensive care. Only family is allowed to visit him."

              Mick showed his private eye badge. "I am a private investigator. It’s important that I ask Mr. Spencer some questions."

              "I’ll have to check on that. There is a doctor in with him now so you might have to wait." The nurse got up and went in the back to use the phone. Mick took the chance, swiveled the computer around when the nurse was not looking. He got the room number for Shawn and headed for the elevator.

\--------------------------------------

              Woody felt like an ass. He should never have broken confidentiality laws but he was too excited and wanted to cheer his friend up. He was going to be in bigger trouble for this than the whole watch stealing incident. "Shawn, you gotta know I had NO idea."

              Shawn was just getting his emotions under control when someone knocked and came in the room. It was a doctor with a clip board.

              "Oh man," Shawn closed his eyes and wiped the last of his tears away. The last thing he wanted to do right then was explain things to a doctor. "Look guys, I just want to be left alone right now."

              The doctor came farther into the room and Woody had to step back to give him some space by the bed. "Mr. Spencer," the doctor checked his clip board. "How are you feeling?"

              Shawn snorted and looked up at the doctor. "Ok for an undead person." He glanced at Woody who ducked his head.

              The doctor’s eyes widened in shock. "How...?" The doctor froze in place looking towards the door. He leaned his head forward and closed his eyes, apparently taking a deep breath.

              _Is he sniffing?_ Shawn thought to himself.

              Woody suddenly sniffed himself, doing a pit check. He obviously thought the doctor was smelling at him.

              "Doctor what are you doing?" Shawn raised his eyebrow. Suddenly, he caught the scent of something too. He had never smelled anything like it before. Musky but not unpleasantly so, some sourness. It was not coming from outside the door but from the doctor himself. The man just didn’t smell… right.

              Woody, seeing Shawn was now sniffing, became incredibly self-conscious." Hey guys, I have not showered yet today so don’t judge."

              The doctor opened his eyes and looked at Shawn. Shawn definitely knew there was something wrong with this guy and it triggered a memory. _A dark shadow hooking him up to a blood bag…_ _"You will be fine now."_

              Blinking the memory away Shawn sat straight up in bed as much as his restraints would allow and a cascade of cold packs fell off of him. "WOODY! Run!"          

              The doctor’s attention snapped to Woody who was preparing to flee. He moved faster than either of them had ever seen and smacked Woody across the room with the clip board, breaking it in the process. Woody slumped unmoving to the floor.

              "You bastard!" Shawn struggled against the restraints, clawing at his still restrained arm with his free one.

              "It was necessary. We cannot have anyone interfering." The doctor stepped forward pulling a thin, sharp, wooden stake from his uniform.

              Shawn could see the determination in the doctor’s eyes and panicked. "Hey man, was joking about the whole undead thing! It's just a blood disorder! Van Wilder’s, Von Lichtenstein’s...!?"

              Seeing that tactic wasn’t helping Shawn reverted to the time tested, age old tradition of screaming his lungs out.

              "DAD! GUS! Anyone! HELP!" He struggled, hoping for another last minute save by his friends, but the save never came. The doctor was too fast and he plunged the sharp object right through Shawn’s heart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is probably the cliffhanger I loved writing the most. :D *Laughs evilly*


	6. Shawn Takes A Stake in the Heart

**Chapter 6- "Shawn Takes a Stake in the Heart"**

              Mick Got off the elevator and walked briskly towards the intensive care ward. Two men were walking towards the elevator and he recognized the lavender smell instantly. This had to be someone who knew Shawn to have been at the Psych office and at the hospital in LA. Mick slowed his pace and listened to their conversation. They were obviously arguing about something.

              "I know there is something wrong with him Gus! We’re in a hospital. They don't bring people here just for kicks." Henry griped.

              Gus glared and huffed out a frustrated breath. "I _know_ that, but don't you think that this goes a little above the normal even for Shawn?"

              "Finally." Mick whispered to himself and approached the two men. "Excuse me, are you two talking about Shawn Spencer?"

              Henry looked suspiciously at the approaching man. "Who wants to know?"

              Extending a hand and giving an assuring smile Mick continued. "Mick St. John. I'm a private detective...." is all he got out before a desperate voice started shouting.

              "DAD! GUS! ANYONE! HELP!"

              "Shawn!" Gus and Henry said at the same time and bolted towards Shawn's room followed closely by Mick.

              A blood curdling scream of pain followed.

              They all burst into Shawn's room at the same time. Alarms were going off everywhere, and the bed was empty except for a round blood stain in the middle of the mattress. Henry fell to his knees while Gus grabbed on to his shoulders so he wouldn't fall over too.

              Mick moved past the shocked men and into the room. A white haired man in a lab coat lay sprawled across the floor on the other side of the room. Mick ran over and checked his pulse. It was steady so he was in no immediate danger. He looked around the room. The window was open and the IVs that were not smashed on the floor were swinging. They had missed him by seconds.

              Mick closed his eyes and sniffed deeply, trying to get a feel for what happened here. He caught glimpses of Shawn lying on the bed filled with panic while another vampire, the rogue, staked him through the heart. Mick opened his eyes and looked closer at the bed and the circle of blood in the middle of it.

              "Poor guy." Mick said aloud. He knew what it felt like to be staked. It didn't kill them like the movies say, but it does hurt like hell, and was scary as hell. Paralyzing them almost completely so they were at the mercy of whoever had them, and it looked like the rogue wanted Shawn alive.

              Unfortunately, stakings were really hard to heal and any blood he had managed to get from the transfusions here would be completely used up. Mick shook his head. "This is really not good."

              He turned and faced the two men in the doorway. Neither had moved but were still taking in the horrible sight of the room. The alarms had brought a swarm of nurses and doctors who were squeezing past them and piling into the room. Questions were flying from every direction and Mick could tell that neither of the men were in any mental state to be answering anything right now.

              Usually pretty soft spoken, even when angry, Mick had enough of the noise and yelled "HEY!" at the top of his lungs. It was more than enough to quiet the room down and get everyone's attention. "Now, what everyone needs to do is calm down, let the security secure the scene for the police, and nurses if you could help these gentlemen out, they clearly cant be here right now."

              Some of the staff looked indignant at being bossed around, while others looked ashamed at their unprofessional reactions, but all did as they were told. Two nurses helped Henry to his feet and lead them out of the room to some chairs. Mick followed knowing his chances of ever finding Shawn had narrowed from slim, to almost none.

\-------------------------------

              Gus looked in Mick's direction and his eyes narrowed. Gus' six years as a detective had given him a pretty good instinct when it came to strangers, unless they were beautiful women, and he thought that it was too big of a coincidence that Mick showed up right as his best friend was abducted out of a hospital bed. "My name is Burton Guster, I'm Shawn's business partner. This is Henry Spencer, his father. Who did you say you were again?"

              "Mick St. John. I am  a private investigator from LA. I have been trying to find Shawn ever since he left the hospital this morning."

              "Why? Did Shawn do something wrong?" Gus asked puzzled.

              Mick was about to answer when Henry's intense eyes snapped to look at him. "You weren't exactly trying to find Shawn were you? You were trying to find the person who was after Shawn and you screwed up."

              Mick took a deep breath. "I've been investigating a string of murders and kidnappings that originated in the LA hospital Shawn stayed at."

              Henry stood up and grabbed Gus. Looking at Mick, Henry said, "I need to speak to him in private." They walked down the hall away from the private detective.

              "Gus, this guy is lying about something. I wouldn't give this guy another thought if we didn't need all the help we can get to find Shawn." Gus could see Henry was still white and shaking with fear for his son but he knew that look in Henry's eyes. He had a mission now and it was all that was keeping him from falling apart, Henry would not stop until he found Shawn.

              "What do we do now?" Gus asked

              "Henry looked over Gus' shoulder at Mick and saw Juliet and Carlton hurrying out of the elevator behind him. "Now we need to be here for each other, so we can get the bastard that did this."

"I hear that." Gus whispered sadly, wondering if his best friend was even alive to find.

\-------------------------------------------------

              Shawn could not move, not a muscle. He could feel something was hurting his chest but not being able to look around, and the position he was being carried in, left him stuck looking at his kidnappers butt. He was a grown ass man... and was being carried like a sack of potatoes. What made it worse, is his kidnapper...er man napper, smelled bad. Like, fifty day old socks bad. He knew they were still in the city, he would hear footfalls on pavement but the footsteps were way too fast for someone carrying a body over their shoulder.

              Since he couldn't do anything else, he counted. It was a way Henry taught him to guess how far he was taken if he was ever kidnapped. He never imagined he would be using Henry's advice so much when he was a kid but these past six years it was almost like he had to use the skills Henry taught him at least once a week.

              "Eight hundred sixty, eight hundred sixty one..."

              The man's pace slowed and came to a stop. Shawn could hear a metal door opening and closing. Shawn figured it had to be a large building because of the echo that sounded when it closed. A few steps later brought them to another door. This one opened softer and as they stepped through it a wave of cold hit Shawn so hard that he gasped. A "Guurg" of pain escaped his lips at the forced inhale of air.

              Shawn had little time to recover before being pitched forward into a sitting position on what he could only guess was a chair. When the man moved out of his field of view Shawn saw he was in a giant meat freezer. Chains hung from the ceiling and platforms jutted from the walls. His hands and feet got pulled behind him forcefully and Shawn heard and felt a chain being wrapped around them.

              _What did he give me? I have to move!_ Shawn thought frantically. He set his jaw, closed his eyes, as much as he could, and tried to move. He managed a quick jerk of his hand. The man grabbed it tighter, painfully tight, and finished tying them.

              Defeated, Shawn stopped trying to move. The man saw Shawn's body go a bit more limp and he smiled. "Looks like you know when to save your strength." He said aloud as he stepped in front of Shawn once more.   

              The man's hand shot forward faster than Shawn's eyes could follow and suddenly the pressure on his chest was gone. Shawn sucked in a big gasp of air and started coughing. Between chest wracking, painful coughs, Shawn saw the man was holding the same stake from the hospital in his hand, it was now covered in blood.

              "No way. No way. Nope, not happening." Shawn shook his head and tried to wrap his rational mind around what had just occurred. He had dealt with mummies, aliens, werewolves, recently vampires and each one had a way to be scientifically explained. Shawn knew he had to think this through. He was not a vampire. That much was for sure. Woody was just being Woody and over reacted. This guy was a garden variety nut job with some acting skills and a quick switcheroo hand. He had to have _pretended_ to stake him and shoved a needle in his chest full of some sort of paralyzing liquid. He would have to play this guy and hopefully he would get out of here in one piece.

              "Shawn." the man said in a very calm almost fatherly voice.

              Shawn looked up at him with a scowl, "My friends call me Shawn, my business associates and stubborn cops call me Spencer...you can call me 'Kiss my ass'."

              Ignoring Shawn's comment the man continued, "My name is Aaron you can call me Aaron. I am only trying to help you. If I wanted you dead, I would not have saved you in the first place."

              Shawn stopped struggling and looked right at him. "Saved me... right, you see here's the thing Aaron. This has been the worst week of my entire life. You didn't save me. You gave me some kind of contagious blood disorder! Thanks for that by the way."

              Aaron shook his head. "Do not mock me. I have given you eternal life. It is a rare gift."

              "If you are a vampire you really give new meaning to the phrase 'Bat Shit Crazy, you know that?" Shawn sneered.

              "You are not going to make this easy are you?" Grumbled the man.

              Shawn cocked his head. "I can make it super easy. _Let me go_."

              Aaron ignored his comment and busied himself in a corner connecting chains to walls. Getting no answer Shawn decided to look around for something, anything to throw this guy off. He remembered something from the hospital. He closed his eyes and saw how familiar the guy seemed with medical equipment.

              "You are a doctor!" Shawn blurted. The man raised an eyebrow as if to say, "Duh." "No, I mean a real doctor. You weren't just faking being one." Shawn figured he had nothing else to lose and tried the psychic approach. "I can see it now! You were the one who hooked me up to the blood bag, but that is not all you did!" Shawn remembered seeing Aaron leave his room with more than one blood bag left... his eyes popped open in horror, this guy had infected more than just him! "You did this to more people!"

              "How do you know this?" Aaron stood up and walked towards Shawn.

              "I am a psychic Jack. I work for the SBPD. They'll come looking for me, and when they find me you are in huge trouble!" Shawn gave him a toothy smile.

              "There are no such thing as psychics." Aaron said skeptically.

              "Said the liar who has done nothing but try to convince me that we’re vampires." Shawn pointed out. "OH!" he shouted, "I sense that the others are near by too! Hey! Anyone else in here kidnapped?"

              Shawn could see he was getting visibly angry. _There we go! I just need to keep on this track._

              Hamming it up, Shawn kept going, "Where are the others? In the next room? Are they vampires too? Damn I thought I was spec...."

              With a loud growl Aaron was suddenly in Shawn's face. He no longer looked like the kindly doctor who talked to him a minute ago. Shawn was staring into the face of a deadly predator. His eyes white, teeth elongated and skin deathly pale. Shawn's photographic memory would not let him forget where he saw a face like that before. The bathroom mirror at the office. _OH MY GOD..._  

\-------------------------------

              Aaron finally saw realization hit Shawn's eyes. He was usually not so dramatic about things but this guy really knew what buttons to push. He had failed with his other fledglings and allowed another to be taken from him. He would not let his last one go so easy.

              He was about to say something else but that was when Shawn started screaming at the top of his lungs. It was a high pitched repeating wail that caused Aaron to have to cover his ears.

              Shawn was busy trying to hop his chair as far away from Aaron as possible, but unfortunately he was not very balanced and ended up flipping the chair over on its side.

              The wind sufficiently knocked out of him, Shawn stopped screaming and just groaned, looking up at him. "It totally figures that being a vampire would make my life suck." Shawn grumbled.

              Aaron smiled widely before his face changed back to normal. "You still have a lot to learn, but we have time." He bent over and picked the chair up, patting his fledgling on the head, eliciting a flinch away from him.

              "Don't touch the hair!"

              Sighing, Aaron started to question whether it was worth it to turn this one...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I added a lot more of Aaron to the rewrite. I hope you all liked it.


	7. The Cold Hard Truth

**Chapter 7- "Cold Hard Truth"**

              It took a while for Juliet to calm down enough to meet Mick and fill her in on what happened. Carlton, being his usual suspicious self, had called in Mick’s name and would not say a thing to him until he got back that he actually was a PI that occasionally worked with the LAPD. Even then, Carlton kept his suspicious face on, just in case.

              They were all sitting around a hospital bed. This one just happened to be Woody’s. It had been an hour and he was still unconscious with a giant bruise on his forehead and a broken nose, having taken a clip board to the face.

              While they waited, each of the people in the room, Carlton, Juliet, Gus, Henry and Mick were wracking their brains for any clue that could have been left behind by the one who took Shawn. Having none, they collectively resigned to wait until Woody came to. They hoped that he would be able to give some description of the man.

              Mick paced around the room. "It seems that the kidnapper had been watching Shawn for a while. He was just waiting for the right moment to take him." He was incredibly disappointed in himself for losing Shawn. Josef was not pleased when he had called and told him what happened.

              Carlton shook his head. "Christ. That man gets kidnapped more than anyone I have ever seen."

              Mick turned towards Carlton and raised an eyebrow. "How many times has he been kidnapped?"

              Henry hung his head and mumbled, "It is in the low twenties."

              Giving an impressed whistle Mick stopped pacing and took a chair by the bed. "It would help me investigate if I knew a bit more about Shawn. What kind of person is he?"

              Talking about Shawn’s past was easy for most of them. Everyone, even Carlton, who was extremely bitter towards Shawn in general, had something good to say about him. He was funny and thoughtful, if given enough time to stop and think. Apparently it was hard for him to slow down his mind and it usually manifested in ADD like symptoms; Constantly moving, changing subjects, jumping in head first. However, when he did focus he could be incredibly brilliant.

              Then there was the fact that he was psychic, which Mick had scoffed at. _Do they really believe that?_

              He was distracted from his thoughts as the group around him started regaling stories of Shawn’s antics. "Remember the time he had us dress up with Lassie and go under cover as Civil War re-enactors?" Gus recounted. This got a chuckle from the group.

              "Oh my God yes! His fake side burns were hilarious!" Juliet giggled.

              Carlton, feeling ambitious added his own anecdote. "Remember when Shawn was shot, hanging off my car going 70 miles per hour down a highway and still managed to shoot the radiator out of the perp’s vehicle?" By the reaction that got everyone did remember it… but not fondly. Missing the awkward silence, Carlton continued. "I called him detective. That day he deserved it."

              Sensing that this was probably the biggest complement that Carlton had ever given Shawn, Mick decided to move the conversation on before he could say something to ruin the moment. "How has Shawn been acting the past few days, after getting sick?"

              The group was silent for a long time. Mick did not see this as a good sign.

              Finally Gus spoke up. "He _has_ been more moody. He also hadn’t eaten or been able to drink anything. He seemed to be fine in the hospital, but…his wound healed incredibly fast, and once he got out he went down-hill."

              "You said you were looking for Shawn." Henry turned his attention to Mick. Henry still didn’t seem to trust, or like him. No doubt he was blaming him for his son’s disappearance, or at least thinking he had something to do with it. "What made you think that this guy was after him? Had he done something like this before?"

              Mick knew he would have to be careful not to talk himself into a corner with this guy.

              "I'm still trying to figure out who he is. There were a string of poisonings in the hospital in LA where Shawn was admitted. I think Shawn was chosen by chance but I can’t be sure."

              "How many people did this happen to?" Juliet asked. She was on the verge of tears again.

              "Five, including Shawn." Mick admitted truthfully.

              Henry leaned forward and looked him right in the eyes. "How many survived?"

            All eyes were on Mick now, waiting for his answer that could give them hope or crush their hearts. "Only one other besides Shawn."

              Everyone seemed to slump back in their chairs. Carlton’s brooding glare came back. "How did they die?"

              Before Mick could answer with some watered down semi truth, a nasal blocked voice from the hospital bed piped up. "Probably massive blood loss or nutrient deficiency."

              Everyone jumped at Woody’s sudden input.

              "Woody! What were you doing in Shawn’s room?" Juliet urgently prodded.

              A very guilty look came over Woody’s expressive features. "I got a blood sample sent to me from the lab guys here. They must have thought it was a joke or a mistake since they suspected it was corpse blood. I was working in the morgue when I got it. I tested it and found that the blood had some form of hemoglobin deficiency, like the one we worked on earlier this year. I think it had to do with Lassiter’s girlfriend’s brother." Carlton squirmed at the mention of his girlfriend. "I heard Shawn had come into the hospital. I didn’t know for what but I figured since I was here, I would cheer him up with a joke that I had found vampire blood."

              Mick nodded in understanding, _So this is the coroner who posted the vampire comment._

              "Oh no Woody… you didn’t" Carlton squeezed the bridge of his nose.

              Woody nodded. "I didn’t realize the blood test was actually legit… and actually his till I had already blurted it out." Woody looked at the accusatory faces in the room with deep regret. "He got pretty upset and I was trying to apologize when the weird doctor came in."

              "Weird doctor?" Everyone echoed.

              "Yeah, he came in and asked if Shawn was okay. Then next thing I know Shawn is telling me to run and I get knocked out. Is Shawn alright?" Woody waited for an answer but their silence was all the answer he needed. "What happened?"

              "He was abducted and injured. We were waiting to see if you could give us some description of the doctor so we have something to go on." Mick explained.

              "Yes! Definitely. I can tell you what he looked like." Woody eagerly volunteered.

            Juliet stood up. Once you give your statement we can put out APBs and help find Shawn."

              "It has to be quick though." Woody said seriously.

              "Why Woody?" Henry waited for his explanation.

              Woody may seem like a giant goof off most days but when it came to being a coroner, he was brilliant and most of the people in the room knew it.

              "Two reasons. One, we need to keep his blood condition under control. Whatever was in the tainted blood he received probably caused him to use up the hemoglobin in his blood at a faster rate." Woody cocked his head, "Which could explain the fast healing…"

              Henry shook his head. "How long were you awake before you said anything Woody?"

              Woody got an indignant look on his face. "That is beside the point." He turned to Mick and whispered, "About ten minutes." then continued, " I suspect he needs transfusions at least once a day at this advanced stage."

              After a pause, Gus asked. "What is the second reason we need to get to him?"

              Woody sighed and looked down. "Because in his sick delirium, Shawn may actually think he is a vampire…"

\---------------------------------------

              "Can I fly?"

              "No"

              "Can I open a can with my fangs?"

              "What? No!"

              "Will I be able to leap tall buildings in a single bound?"

              "We can jump pretty high…"

              "Will I fry in the sun?"

              "It isn’t good to…"

              "If you keep your face all vampy for too long does it stick that way?"

              "You aren’t making sense."

              Shawn had been at it for a half an hour. Any question, vampire related or not that popped into his head he blurted it out. It was only a matter of time before Aaron got angry and left. Shawn figured he would have an easier time escaping if he wasn’t here. Go figure.

              Some of the questions Shawn was dying to know the answer to but he did _not_ want to trust the word of a guy he just met… let alone a guy who poisoned him with vampire blood, staked him, and currently had him tied to a chair.

              A few frivolous questions later and Shawn was sure he had him storming out, but in the middle of asking whether or not they could turn into bats he was hit with an all too familiar pain in his gut. He doubled over as far as his stretching arms would let him and groaned loudly.

              Aaron turned around from the door and with an expression that Shawn could only guess was some kind of concern. "Have you had any blood yet?"

              Through the pain Shawn raised his head, his eyes widened. "Excuse me?"

              "Have you had _blood_?" Aaron spoke slowly as if he was talking to a child.

              Shawn snorted "I thought you were tailing me the whole time."

              "Not the whole time. I took a bit of time off to find this place and get it ready." Aaron shrugged before his face turned serious once more, "Now, I am not going to ask again. Have you had any blood to drink yet?" The frustration in Aaron’s voice was music to Shawn’s ears.

              "Oh yeah, tons. I ate this little old lady on my way to the hospital. Mmm very tasty. Oh and her dog was a nice dessert…Gah!" Shawn’s retort was interrupted by the feeling of his blood boiling. The pain was starting to spread out from his stomach to the rest of his limbs.

              Aaron grabbed Shawn’s face. Despite Shawn’s struggles, Aaron was able to get a good look at his eyes. "Yellow... you're starving."

              Growling in frustration, Aaron grabbed the chair with Shawn in it and pulled it up against the wall with chains attached to it. Being careful to keep Shawn restrained he clasped the shackles to Shawn's wrists. Once Aaron was satisfied Shawn would not get out of them, he untied him from the chair and quickly stepped back, keeping the now kicking and struggling Shawn at a distance. Aaron then rushed out of the freezer and left Shawn to puzzle at his reaction.

              Finally alone, Shawn tried to work on getting free. While working to free his hands, Shawn thought about Juliet. He had no idea how she and Gus would handle finding out he was a vampire. He wasn't even sure how _he_ was handling it. Should he be more freaked out? Happy that he was immortal? He honestly didn’t know, so he tried to focus on the things he did know so far about vampires.

              _For sure_ he knew he could go out in the day time, for a while anyway. _For sure_ he knew he was stronger, the ripped strap at the hospital could attest to that. He could not eat food anymore, everything tasted the same, but for some reason he just couldn't stomach it well.

              He took a minute to mourn the loss of pineapple.

              Last, and certainly the least thing he wanted to acknowledge, was the fact that vampires drank blood. He would have to drink blood, or at least get daily transfusions. He felt better when in the hospital and Shawn knew it had to have something to do with it.

              Shawn yawned. He had no idea how long it had been since Aaron left and he still had no luck getting the shackles off his hands or out of the walls. He knew there was one way he could do it but he wasn’t exactly that desperate yet. _No...that's a last resort._

              He yawned again. Another vampire fact, cold felt good and made him tired. It was something he had never heard of in vampire lore but it had to be a vampire thing. He had never made it a habit before to sleep in refrigerators or freezers.

              His eyes started to droop and he curled up against the wall. "A couple minutes rest can’t hurt." Shawn closed his eyes and passed out almost instantly.

\--------------------------------------------------

              When Aaron returned with the squirming human over his shoulder, he found Shawn pressed up against the wall sleeping. Aaron smiled. He knew this would happen eventually. New turns needed a lot of everything; attention, sleep, blood. He had been a fool to think he could make more than a couple at a time, even just this _one_ had been a handful. It had been so long since he'd had to turn anyone, he'd forgotten the basics.

              The others he'd attempted to turn...They went wild, sure, but he knew he could have helped them if those self-righteous pricks would have let them live. The fledglings were only doing what came naturally. Feeding. All vampires needed to feed. Aaron knew this is a lesson he would have to teach Shawn, and quickly.

              The dragging of chains and a high pitched whimper brought Shawn out of his deep sleep. He watched as Aaron took a slender womanly figure from over his shoulder and shackled her to the floor.

              "You know it isn’t the best view when you carry someone like that. Speaking from experience." Shawn wrinkled his nose in mock disgust.

              With a quick glare Aaron finished securing the woman to the floor. The shackles were within Shawn’s reach but were so short the woman would not be able to stand while wearing them. Aaron had set this up on purpose. Feeding for the first time was almost like a bird kicking it's baby from the next when they need to learn to fly... All they needed was a little push.

\--------------------------

              The woman could not have been more than twenty five. She was slender, and quite pretty. Shawn sniffed and realized she wore the same perfume as Juliet had back at the Psych office.

              Aaron noticed the sniff and smiled. "Smell that do you? Sweet and aromatic."

              "Yeah, they sell it at Wal-Mart for twenty bucks, so?" Shawn said sarcastically but his voice was strained. He was trying to stay calm while watching a poor girl cry on the floor in front of him. He wished Aaron would come closer so he could kick the ever loving crap out of him. Maybe even a kick in the shin. Those really hurt.

              "It isn’t a perfume." Aaron chuckled wryly. "You are smelling fear. More Female fear." Aaron looked down at the terrified girl and gave a toothy grin. "Intoxicating isn't it?"

              Shawn clenched his fists till his nails bit into his palms. This guy, his mannerisms, his calm but psycho demeanor reminded him of Yin, a serial killer who terrorized him periodically for almost three years. He knew this guy was some sort of zealot. There would be no reasoning with him. The only thing Shawn could do was stall and hope someone would be able to find them. Or, that is what he was going to do before Aaron walked up to the girl and drew his fingernail across her neck.

\----------------------------

              Aaron saw Shawn’s eyes go from seething anger to glazed over as soon as he caught the scent. Smelling fresh blood for the first time as a vampire is a hard sensation to describe. Finally being able to put a name, a source, to the craving that is ingrained in their very being was nothing a mortal would be able to understand.

              Shawn took a couple steps forward before catching himself and backing against the wall once more.

              "You need to feed Shawn!" Aaron said sternly. "I need you strong if you are going to be able to stay alive, and you _will_ be strong."

              Shawn narrowed his eyes, but was still flicking them to the blood, now starting to fall below the woman's blouse collar. "What do you mean by that?"

              "I'm old Shawn. You have my blood. That _alone_ makes you stronger." Aaron didn't exactly pick his fledglings at random either. He'd overheard the talk in the hospital about who he was, and what he'd done. Smart, quick witted, and determined.

              Unfortunately, the people he'd overheard left out the most prominent aspect of his new fledgling's personality. Stubbornness.

              "So, what about everyone else you turned? Was I the easiest to catch or what?"

              Aaron, could tell he was stalling, but he also knew it was time to tell him what happened to the others. Failure or not, he would need to know to stay alive. "The other vampires that I made… they were hunted down and killed before I could get to them. I made a mistake, made too many at once... There is one more, but he is safe for now. I'll get him soon." He raised his eyes to meet with Shawn's. "You were the last."

              Shawn’s face went emotionless with disbelief. "You trying to tell me there are vampire hunters out there… C’mon son!"

              Aaron shook his head. "Not vampire hunters. Vampires who think it is their duty to police our kind. One was following you around. I staked you and grabbed you because he was out in the hallway, on his way to get you. To kill you."

              "He was going to kill me? _Why_?"

              He curled his lip in disgust. _Self righteous bastards._ "That is what they do, if a vampire gets what they consider ‘out of control’ they take them out so they don’t expose our existence." Aaron explained. "The one after you is named Mick St. John. He will use your family, your friends, whatever he has to."

              "But, I haven't _done_ anything! That doesn't make any se−sense..." Shawn trailed off and grit his teeth. No doubt feeling more of the effects of his starvation.

              Aaron had enough talking. It was time to get down to business. Explanations would come later. He prompted Shawn, pointing at the woman who's whimpers had turned into sobs as she was starting to come around from the blow on the head he'd given her. "You're dying. I won't allow that. Eat, or I'll _make_ you eat."   

\----------------------------

              Shawn’s attention immediately snapped back to the woman in front of him. Shock of finding out he was being hunted temporarily gone and replaced with a hunger and longing for the trail of red running down her neck.

              He knew what vampires were supposed to do, but he had never really thought of it being anything but a fun game. He remembered when he ordered the slow gin fizzes at the vampire bar. It looked like blood and he and Gus had so much fun seeing who could make the messiest eater. Vampires were not supposed to be real. He wasn’t supposed to have to kill someone.

              Shawn closed his eyes and breathed through is mouth. He didn’t want to have to smell that scent anymore. He covered his ears so he didn’t have to hear her cry. He backed up and practically hugged the wall to get away from her. "No. You can't make me!" The last word came out as a loud growl.

              "You know what," Aaron's voice was hard and stern. "I will leave you to it Shawn. Eventually you have to feed. I will be back when you do." He heard Aaron's footsteps retreat as he walked out of the freezer.

              Shawn, waited until he couldn't hear him anymore and opened his eyes slowly. He didn't dare to get any closer to the woman, but he was still concerned because she didn't look well. She had an obvious bump on the head and he wasn't sure how bad Aaron had cut her. "Hey, you alright?"

              The woman blinked a few times, and whispered, "Who is there?"

              "A fellow detainee." Shawn rattled his chains. "I am right next to you, can’t you see me?"

              "I can barely see my hand in front of my face. It is too dark." The woman sobbed.

              _Seeing in the dark, check._ Shawn thought. "My name is Shawn. What's yours?" He said aloud.

              "Kristen. Where are we? I want to go home!" He could see her raise a hand to her neck. She wiped some of the trickling blood from her neck. "What did he do to me? What is going on?"

              Shawn was unable to speak. Her wiping the blood sent a huge whiff of it in his direction.

              _Hungry..._

A low growl escaped him and he could feel his fangs start to extend. His breathing quickened and he moved slowly towards her.

              "Shawn? Is that you?" Kristen said in a shaky voice.

              Almost beyond all thought, Shawn knew he had to do something to get out of here. He had to get to his friends and family. If there really was someone using them to get to him he would rather face them head on. Shawn knew there was only one way to do that. It was _not_ going to be pleasant.

              Kristen did not see Shawn till he was almost right on top of her. His face was inches from her own. She gasped and almost fell backwards. Shawn caught her and brought her face closer to his.

              "Kristen, scream for me." Shawn said through clenched fangs.

              She began to tremble and flinched away from him. "W-why?"

              "Because this is going to hurt." Shawn said quietly as he prepared to attempt something so desperate he couldn’t believe he was even considering it let alone about to do it.

\------------------------------------

              Aaron could hear them talking. Saying their names to each other. He shook his head. _I should have told him it would make it harder if he saw them as a person._ He thought. Shawn was a tough one to crack that was for sure, but they all cracked in the end. It was their nature.

              All at once their talking stopped and Aaron heard a hungry growl, followed a few seconds later by a blood curdling scream of terror and pain. There was something odd about it... his brow furrowed and he almost went in, but then thought the better of it. Shawn would need his time to feed, and he'd be back later to pick up the body anyhow. _Now, all I need are some plastic bags._


	8. Shawn Finally Gets a Break

**Chapter 8- "Shawn Finally Gets a Break"**

**Santa Barbara** **1993**

              "Dad please! Do we have to do this now? I am supposed to meet Gus so we can go to the arcade." Shawn whined to his father. Shawn was sick of his dad always doing this to him. It was some kind of sick quid pro quo. In order to do anything fun he had to put up with "lessons."

              "Shawn," Henry scolded as he held his son’s left hand in a vice grip. "This is going to be one of the toughest lessons I teach you. Now pay attention!"

              Shawn sighed. He knew better by now than to try and get out these things.

              "Alright Shawn," Henry took out his handcuffs and put them on his son. He put them on tighter than normal and Shawn made a squeak in protest. "This is how tight handcuffs usually are. Sometimes it is enough to cut off circulation."

              Shawn winced, "Yeah, I can tell."

              "It has to be tight so a person cannot just slip their wrist out. Their thumbs will be in the way. Try and get out of the cuffs."

              Shawn squirmed, and moved his wrists like his dad taught him when he was younger but was unable to remove them. "I can’t get out." Shawn said defeated.

              Henry flipped Shawn’s hands to face palm upward and pointed where Shawn’s thumb met his palm. "Now, I have taught you how to pick cuffs and how to slip them off if someone puts them on you too loosely, but if all else fails there is one last thing you can do." He pointed to the joint in Shawn’s thumb. "Breaking this bone right here is all that stands between you and anything that fits around your wrist coming off with very little trouble."

              Shawn’s eyes widened. "Won’t that be really painful?" He was seriously wondering if his dad was crazy enough to make him break his thumbs to get out of the hand cuffs.

              "I have only had to do it once myself." Shawn blinked and remembered six years ago when his dad returned from a case, bruised and one hand in a cast. "The pain was excruciating. It takes a long time to heal but will likely save your life. Think about it kid. One day you will have to make a decision. What are you willing to do to live?"

              Shawn nodded. At fifteen, "Serious Shawn" moments were few and far between, but occasionally they did happen.

              This was not one of those times.

              "Okay dad, good talk. I'm going to the arcade now where I'm going to put my thumbs to better use than breaking them." Shawn held out his hands and his dad unlocked them with a disapproving scowl.

              Shawn was gone the instant they were off. He gave a sarcastic wave and headed to Gus’ house. Henry watched him leave then walked back into the house.

 _Maybe someday I'll tell him why I had to do it._ Henry thought shaking his head.

              He hoped to God his son was lucky enough to count this lesson as useless information, but knowing Shawn and the situations he gets into Henry only knew it was a matter of time before he had to learn some hard lessons on his own.

\-----------------------------------------

**The Present**

              Kristen’s scream was agony to Shawn’s ears but it completely covered up his own shout of pain as he broke not one, but both of his thumbs. He was still hopping around silently screaming when he heard Aaron's footsteps walking away from the freezer.

              "Oh my God it worked!" Hops of pain became hops of joy before Shawn realized he was only half done. He had to get his hands out of the shackles first.

              "Is he gone?" Kristen asked quietly.

              "Yeah he walked off for now. I don’t think we have long though." Shawn walked slowly back over to Kristen. He was still fighting to not harm her but breathing through is mouth worked along with focusing on how much his thumbs hurt right now helped keep his mind focused. "Kristen, grab the shackle from my wrist and pull as hard as you can."

              She sat up as best she could and got a good grip on the shackle. They both pulled and the metal circle tore off his wrist taking a bit of flesh with it. Shawn’s eyes widened and he clenched his teeth in pain but one sound could give them away. They repeated the process with his other hand and quicker than Shawn thought possible, he was free.

              Shawn looked down at his torn up hands. They were either not healing or he didn’t’ heal as fast as he thought he would. "Damn it." He muttered.

              Kristen looked up at him in horror. "I won’t have to do that will I?"

              "No, one stupid move is well and good enough for both of us right now. Plus, Aaron has the key and all I need to do is get to it." Shawn grimaced in pain and backed a bit farther up from Kristen.

              "You okay?" She whispered watching Shawn back up as if terrified of her.

              Swagger returning to his voice even through the grumbles of pain Shawn said, "Nothing a few alcohol wipes won't cure." He continued to try and find something that he could use to take Aaron out. His keen eyes settled on a pointy stick of wood lying close to a wall. A wall that Aaron thought was completely out of Shawn’s reach.

              Snuffling, Kristen watched Shawn as he cautiously bent over and picked something pointy off the ground. He could see she was starting to shiver and if he didn't get her out of there soon, she'd definitely get hypothermia.

              "What do we do now? You're free but how are you going to defend us from that that monster when you have two broken hands?"

              Shawn smiled and brandished the stake in front of him. "I am just going to get a little payback. You know how they say revenge is best served right?" Kristen nodded, "Well what better place to dish it out than a freezer."

\----------------------------------

              Aaron returned about ten minutes later. He had a large plastic bag in his hand and was whistling a tune. He was bursting with pride for his fledgling. He would be strong, but Shawn really needed to learn when to shut up. The barrage of questions he had to face was enough to drive anyone crazy, immortal or not.

              When he opened the freezer door he saw Shawn crouching by the wall and the girl slumped down where she was chained. He had a feeling something was off but couldn't put his finger on what it was. Shaking the feeling he closed the freezer door and walked over to Shawn. Who didn’t even look up as he approached.

              "You see? You feel better don’t you?" he said in a fatherly tone. He saw Shawn nod but still not look up. "There is nothing to be ashamed of. It is our nature−"

              Suddenly Shawn shot up and rammed a stake at Aaron’s heart. A split second before it hit, Aaron blocked the blow and ripped the stake from Shawn’s hand. Shawn screamed in pain at the motion. Aaron then dropped the piece of wood behind him and pushed his fledgling up against the wall. He had somehow gotten out of the shackles. Aaron looked at his hands and could still see that they were missing skin where he tore them off.

              Shawn gagged and choked against Aaron’s arm which had him securely pinned to the wall. "You insolent child! I have been way too tolerant of your antics but enough is enough. You kill that girl and you feed _right now!_ "

              Shawn’s eyes flicked past Aaron and he tried to say something. Backing off the pressure Aaron growled at Shawn. "What did you say?"

              Panting for air Shawn gasped out. "I… I said…" Aaron leaned closer to hear Shawn’s answer when he saw Shawn’s eyes harden and lock on to his, turning silver white in anger. "I said SUCK IT!"

\---------------------------------

              Shawn kicked his foot up and hit Aaron right between his legs.

              Stumbling back with an animalistic shriek of pain Aaron fell backwards over Kristen who was kneeling right behind him. Before he could recover Shawn grabbed the stake and plunged it into his heart. With a wide eyed look of shock, Aaron went completely still.

              Shawn frantically dug through Aaron’s pockets until he found the key to Kristen’s shackles. He handed her the key and Kristen made quick work of getting unshackled.

              Still trying to regain his breath from the choke hold, Shawn looked at Kristen with respect and said, "My friend Gus could take some pointers from you about how to be a table." He put a hand out to help her up but she did not take it. Puzzled he saw she was backing up in horror.

              "You just killed him…"

              "Hey! Whoa whoa! He was trying to kill _us_!" Shawn said indignantly.

              "What was going on here? You just staked him… OH MY GOD! Is he still moving?" Kristen screamed as Aaron’s face turned white and his fangs grew.

              Thinking quickly, Shawn grabbed the shackles on the floor and hooked him up to them. Just in case. Once done he looked up and Kristen was no longer there. He heard the freezer door close and running steps getting farther away.

              In a girly voice Shawn said, "Oh thank you for saving me! I know you just broke your hands to get me out. I will be forever grateful." Scoffing he turned his attention back to Aaron who was watching him from the ground.

              Through clenched teeth Aaron hissed, "You will be punished for this."

              "You and what undead army tough guy." Kicking some dirt and ice in Aaron’s face Shawn turned and strutted from the freezer. He knew he would have to do something about Aaron eventually but for now Shawn had to figure out how he was going to survive long enough to save get to his friends and warn them about the man who was after him.

              As Shawn walked out of the warehouse, he noticed it was still night and by the looks of things he was still in Santa Barbara.

              _Where the hell am I going to get blood at this hour?_ Shawn thought with some humor as he walked down the street. _I doubt the Seven Eleven serves vampires._

He paused his walking and looked up with a glint in his eye. Woody! He had been down in the Coroner’s lab enough times to know that the coroner stored jars of blood in the fridge for testing. Now he was just going to have to figure out how to sneak into the Santa Barbara Police Department without being recognized or seen. Being the Head Psychic of the SBPD made him very well known, so he could just hope that not everyone there heard about his hospitalization or kidnapping yet.

              With renewed vigor Shawn quickened his pace and smiled. Maybe he would even try out some of his new vampire powers on the way.

\------------------------------------ 

              It was almost 2am and Juliet was extremely tired. The day had been an out of control emotional roller coaster and it had taken a lot out of her. They had just finished putting out an APB on anyone matching Woody’s description of Shawn’s kidnapper and everyone except Mick looked like they could pass out on the spot.

              Mick was on the phone again with what seemed like his boss and he was talking in hushed tones away from the group. Earlier it sounded like he had called a girlfriend. Juliet had smiled at that.

              They had left Woody’s room so he could rest, and had talked for a bit in the hallway, trying to come up with anything they could do besides stand around and wait. Carlton was just about to drag his partner to the elevator and tell her she needed to sleep when his cell phone rang. Henry and Gus perked up and Mick looked like he was listening in on the call too.

              "Detective Carlton Lassiter." He paused for a moment and looked at Juliet. "We'll be right there." He closed the phone and turned to fill in his partner. "A woman named Kristen Morris just walked into the station. She said she was taken to a warehouse downtown and chained up by a man fitting the description of the person who kidnapped Shawn."

              "Was he there?" Gus said urgently.

              "Kristen mentioned another man but dispatch didn’t tell me much over the phone. O’Hara and I will head to the warehouse to see if we can find anything. You two," Carlton pointed to Henry and Gus. "You can take Magnum PI over there and question Kristen at the station. We will meet up with you when we’re done checking the scene."

\---------------------------------

              Mick walked up closer to the group after hearing their conversation. He had just called Beth and told her he would be back soon and then called Josef to update him as well. He'd been able to give Josef the description Woody gave of the rogue and his friend said he'd look into it.

              Juliet and Carlton rushed towards the elevators before Mick could reach them, but Henry and Gus approached him.

              "We have to go to the station. Apparently someone was kidnapped and was able to escape. It could have something to do with who took Shawn so they wanted us to go question her." Henry explained as if Mick hadn't heard every word from across the hall.

              "Alright. Let’s go." He was used to working mostly alone, except when Beth decided to tag along. Having to wait for others and follow orders was a bit confining. He hoped it he would be able to break from the group and do some digging himself but it seemed everyone wanted to keep a close eye on him.

              _I’m not the one they need to worry about._ Mick thought. For all he knew, depending on what the rogue was doing, Shawn could be the dangerous one now.


	9. Such a Buzz Kill

**Chapter 9- "Such a Buzz Kill"**

              Shawn slinked closer to the church. It was going to take him longer to get to the station than he wanted it to because of this little pit stop, but he deemed it necessary.

              About two blocks away from the warehouse, once the adrenaline wore off, he realized he was still in nothing but a hospital gown and skivvies. He had decided to just take the gown off because it would be less conspicuous. Plus with his green boxers it might just look like he was wearing shorts instead of seeming like an escaped mental patient. Still, he didn't want the chance of being picked up for indecent exposure, so he headed for a church nearby hoping there were donations that had not been taken in yet. Sure enough when he rounded the corner to the back of the church, a few bags were laying by the rear door.

              He quickly found a shirt and pants in his size. Unfortunately though, the clothes were all women’s. He was able to find some gray androgynous sweatpants but the only shirt he found that wasn't a petite was a purple hoodie that had the word "SEXY" written in giant glittery letters across the front.

              Shawn grimaced while holding it up. "This is going to _completely_ kill my whole vampire image." He quickly put the clothes on and headed towards the Police Station, happy he was able to at least walk on the sidewalk again rather than jump behind buildings wearing boxers any time someone passed.

              There weren't many people on the street at this hour so the stares were minimal but everyone gave him a wide berth. Not mainly because of the way he was dressed but the way he growled and hunched over in anguish every couple of minutes was enough to make anyone nervous.

              The pain had returned with a vengeance. Gut churning hunger wracked his body, and the scents from passing pedestrians were getting too good to ignore. _Keep it together. Just a little farther._

              Shawn looked up from his latest vision blurring, agony filled, stomach cramp and realized he was standing a block away from the station. "Oh man finally!" he panted. _Now I just have to break into a police station without being seen. Should be easy right?_

\------------------------------------------------ 

            Henry, Gus and Mick rushed to the interrogation room as soon as they arrived at the SBPD. Buzz saw them pass and waved at the group. It was his weekly night shift and he only had one hour left so he was finishing up some paperwork. He recognized Mick from earlier in the night, and briefly wondered how he had found Gus and Henry.

              "Why are they all in such a hurry?" One of the other officers asked nudging Buzz.

              "I don't know. Probably has to do with Shawn. Juliet and Lassiter have been antsy too. Practically ran out of the station twice tonight to get to the hospital." Buzz shrugged.

              The officer shook his head. "Hope he is okay. Seems like a good guy. Weird, but a good guy. He brings us coffee and doughnuts every Wednesday."

              Smiling, Buzz walked back to his desk. He just happened to look up when he saw a woman in a purple hoodie walk in the door. The officer watched as she looked around and quickly disappeared behind one of the wood pillars near the entrance.    

              Buzz probably wouldn't have given it a second thought if he didn't see the purple top of that same hoodie peeking over one of the desks a second later. He stood up on high alert. _Someone is sneaking into the station?_

              He followed the purple hoodie's path as it disappeared around the corner, then he went around his desk and carefully started following it, trying to look as nonchalant as possible. He saw the person look over their shoulder and sprint down the stairs towards the cells and interrogation room.

              "Uh oh." Buzz said aloud and quickly but quietly chased after them. If this person caused trouble, Buzz would make sure he was there to stop them.

\------------------------------------------------

              Carlton and Juliet pulled up in front of the seemingly abandoned warehouse around 2:30am. Both were extremely tired but the prospect of possibly finding Shawn was enough to give Juliet a second wind and Carlton hope he would get to shoot someone. They parked half a block away and quietly snuck up towards the main door which suspiciously stood wide open.

              Juliet on one side and Carlton on the other, they wordlessly gave the signal to check out inside the door. It was almost like a dance, each knowing automatically what the other was going to do. It was an amazing skill that came with time and trust.

              Juliet took low and left, Carlton took high and right.

              "Clear!" Juliet said dropping her weapon slightly.

              "Clear!" Carlton echoed, keeping his own weapon still poised and ready. He was never one to think that quiet and clear was safe.

              He took out his flash light and searched for the main light switch. The warehouse flooded with fluorescent brightness a moment later. It was not a huge place but was almost completely empty which caused an echo that created the auditory illusion that it was bigger. The only thing in the empty space was what looked like a freezer about twenty feet in.

              The door was closed.

              Taking up defensive stances once more the pair headed for the freezer door. Since it opened outward Carlton grasped the handle and pulled it when Juliet nodded. Frozen air hit warm air causing a wispy cloud to rush out. Through the haze Juliet could see a figure laying in the middle of the freezer which looked to be about a ten foot square room.

              Juliet gasped which caused Carlton to peer in as well. Frozen blood was pooled around the body whose wrists were connected to the floor with shackles. Another longer pair of shackles was lying on the floor nearby. Upon closer inspection they found the body had a wooden handle protruding from its heart.

              "What in the hell happened here? You think Spencer could have done this?" Carlton's blue eyes widened at his partner.

              "Whatever happened you know as well as I do he probably had no choice... plus we don't even know if this WAS Shawn." Juliet pointed out.

              "O'Hara, look at his clothes." Carlton pointed to the man's lab coat which was obviously something a doctor would wear. The man also fit the description of the abductor Woody had given them.

              "We better call this in. If Shawn escaped he might be at the station already." Juliet started dialing when a soft groan sounded from the floor.

              "Sweet Lady Justice! He’s alive?!" Carlton bent down and looked for a pulse.

              Juliet followed suit but looked at the stab wound. The stake had to have penetrated almost all the way through the man. "There is no way he is still alive."

              Both detectives fell back with uncharacteristic shrieks as the corpse’s eyes opened. Carlton recovered first and went to work assessing the man's awareness. "Sir! Can you hear me? Can you talk?"

              " _Get it out..."_

              Working through the shock, Juliet shook her head. "We can't! The only thing keeping you from bleeding out is the fact that it’s in there."

              Looking around, Carlton knew they would have to get out of the freezer. He spotted a key a few feet away. "O'Hara, this might work to unlock him. We have to get him out of here."

              "We don't want to move him Carlton, it could kill him."

              Carlton sighed, "We don't have a choice, we _cannot_ keep him in here O’Hara. The paramedics won't have room to work and I don't feel like having him freeze while we wait. Who knows how long he has been in here! He needs to warm up."

              Nodding, Juliet grabbed the tossed key from the air and quickly unlocked the man's arms. Doing their best to keep him level they slowly carried him out of the freezer and onto the concrete. Carlton took out his phone and started to dial 911.

              " _Please... take it out..."_ The man's voice was barely a pleading whisper and his hands twitched in the direction of the stake.

              "Carlton, maybe we should take it out. OW!" The man’s hand whipped out unexpectedly and grabbed Juliet's arm, squeezing hard.

              Carlton turned towards Juliet's cry of pain and raised his gun at the man. "Let her go!"

              "Take it out!" The man demanded through clenched teeth and squeezed Juliet's arm harder.

              A crunch sound announced a broken bone and Juliet screamed.

              Knowing that it would probably kill the man who had his partner hostage Carlton was more than happy to oblige. Leaning over, gun in one hand, he ripped out the stake. The man took a gasping breath and let Juliet go. A bruise was already forming in the shape of a hand where he grabbed her.

              Leaning over in pain Juliet held her arm close and grabbed her gun with the other. "Stay down!" she shouted at the man who was sitting up and panting.

              Carlton, who had been expecting the doctor to die almost instantly, put his arm in front of Juliet and backed her off, still pointing the gun at the sitting figure.

              "He should be dead, this isn’t normal!" Juliet cried in alarm.

              "Since when has Spencer gotten us into anything that WAS normal?" Carlton growled.

              The man looked at the detectives and smiled. "You know Shawn?" He started to get up.

              "Stay on the ground or we will open fire!" Carlton shouted, his finger already on the trigger.

              Pushing himself to his feet, the man laughed. It was a low maniacal laugh that chilled both officers to the bone. "Shawn left me... I need to get him back."

              "What do you want with Shawn?" Juliet demanded. This man was obviously crazy and it was clear to Carlton that she would not let him anywhere _near_ her boyfriend again.

              "He needs me to survive!" Anger flashed across his face. "I made him what he is and he has to come back!"

             Carlton could not hide his distain. "What bull crap are you spewing loony?"

              Quicker than either of them could comprehend the man jumped straight up into the rafters of the building. His face and eyes went pale and he let out a high pitched shriek of anger. "You _can’t_ keep him from me!"

              They both opened fire, as he came at them.

              Bullets ricocheted off metal beams and a few shredded through his body but it did not slow him down. Jumping right at Carlton he slammed into him full force knocking him back. Carlton groaned in pain as he felt himself being lifted by his suit.

              "You think that actually hurts me?" The man sneered.

              Carlton’s blue eyes blazed and he emptied the rest of his gun into the man's torso with still no effect. Logic finally failing him the detective was frozen in shock as the man laughed and threw him at the wall. He landed in an unconscious heap.

              Juliet grabbed her phone and tried to call for back up but the man was there in an instant. He slammed her against a wall and she dropped her gun as he put his hand around her throat. Sniffing deeply he chuckled. "I smell him all over you. I bet he will come for you."

              "Let me go!" Juliet kicked and tried to bite his hand but only ended up biting her own lip. A trickle of blood fell down her chin and the man licked it clean, much to Juliet's disgust.

              A calculating look crossed the man's features. "Even if he doesn't come, I can still have a little entertainment. Lord knows I could use it."

\------------------------------------------------

              Kristen sat shivering under a blanket in the interrogation room when Henry, Gus and Mick walked in. The officer outside said that she had made her way to the station immediately after escaping. She had told the officer at the desk she had been kidnapped and needed help. It was obvious to him that she was in shock, but she did manage to mention that there was another man who was captured when she was brought there. However, the reporting officer told them she was reluctant to talk about him.

              The first thing Mick noticed about the interrogation room is that it was obviously not meant to be comfortable. The walls were very drab. The large two way mirror would be a bit intimidating, not knowing who was watching you, and there was one lone table with a couple of chairs sitting across from the girl. Gus and Henry immediately took those leaving an annoyed Mick to stand.

              Kristen looked nervous as she glanced at the three men. "Why does it take so many people to take a statement?" She asked.

              Henry, being the most experienced at questioning, was elected in the car to do most of the talking. "My name is Henry Spencer. I am the police consultant liaison for the SBPD." Pointing at Gus he continued. "This is Burton Guster, partner of our psychic consultant."

              "Who is he?" Kristen asked when Henry conveniently forgot to introduce Mick, who got the distinct feeling the man did not like him.

              "Mick St. John, I am a private detective." He glanced at Henry who rolled his eyes.

              "Oh, why so many of you then?" Kristen repeated her question.

              Henry frowned. He didn’t want to blurt out anything about Shawn. Years of being a police officer taught him when interviewing witnesses you waited till they told their story before interjecting anything. You never knew when just saying someone’s name will give the victim a false memory, so he played it safe. "We’re investigating the abduction of one of our consultants. We believe he may be connected with your kidnapping."

              Gus played the urgency card. "He is my friend and Henry’s son. He was kidnapped from the hospital and probably needs medical care."

              Kristen looked down and nodded. Everyone knew this would be hard for her to tell but if they were going to have any chance of finding Shawn they had to know what happened.

              Henry leaned forward and folded his hands on the table. "Could you tell us what happened when you were taken?"

              Kristen took a shaky breath. "I was walking home from a club when this guy hit me on the head. I was awake but really out of it. He put me over his shoulder and started to run off with me." Tears formed in her eyes and she began to curl into a protective ball.

              Mick walked over to Kristen and kneeled by her chair. He put his hands on hers and looked her in the eyes. "I know it was a horrible experience but we need to know what happened. You could help save someone’s life tonight."

              Kristen nodded, wiping away tears, "Okay."

              Henry and Gus stared, their eyebrows raised. Till now they both thought Mick was a hard ass who just cared about getting the job done. They could see after the way he’d treated Kristen that it wasn’t the case. Henry could read the concern in his eyes and how genuine it was and for the first time Henry wondered if this guy actually did _care_ about finding his son.

              Gus was merely thinking that there was more to Mick than met the eye. Then he connected it to a movie reference where Donkey told Shrek he was like a parfait because he had layers. Then Gus wanted a parfait. Then Gus thought about Shawn and how much he loved parfaits… Gus started to get teary.

              "What is wrong with him?" Kristen sniffled.

              Gus tried to hide the emotion in his voice. "I’m a sympathetic crier."

              Henry elbowed Gus, still focused on Kristen "Keep going sweetheart, you’re doing great."

              Kristen continued, "I must have passed out eventually because I remember waking up when the door slammed as we entered the building. Then we went into a giant walk in freezer and he chained me down."

              "He chained you to in a freezer?" Gus shot Henry a worried look, remembering finding Shawn in the fridge.

              Mick kept his face stoic but as soon as he heard freezer he knew they had their guy. "Was there anyone else in the freezer with you?"

              "Yes. I remember the man who took me started talking with someone else. Another man. They said a bunch of stuff that didn’t make sense, but I got the gist of the conversation. My kidnapper wanted the other guy to kill me." Kristen closed her eyes as tears fell on the table. Her shoulders shook with sobs. "But… but he didn’t want to. He got angry. The other guy left us. He said his name. I−I can’t remember it."

              Henry rubbed his head. He was getting impatient and if she couldn’t remember his name he would just have to keep her talking and maybe she would remember something that would give them a clue as to whether it was Shawn. "It’s okay. What happened next? How did you escape?"

              "The other man, he went quiet for a bit." Kristen reached up and touched the dried blood on her neck. "I felt something running down my neck and touched it. I could have sworn I heard some kind of growl, but… I know this is going to sound weird but it didn’t sound human. Then he was right in my face. I realized then that he was chained too but he could reach me."

              "Did he do anything or say anything?" Henry prodded.

              Kristen’s eyes looked down. "Yes." She whispered. "He told me to scream."

              Crestfallen looks flooded the three men’s faces. Henry and Gus knew it could not be Shawn. He would never ever hurt a woman, even if said woman was kicking the crap out of him. Gus knew that from firsthand experience.

              Mick closed his eyes and shook his head, biting his lip. Shawn seemed like a strong guy but with that set up he wasn’t surprised that he’d caved to instinct. Mick’s sire, who happened to be his ex-wife, had forced him to feed for the first time too. He covertly looked for any bite marks on visible places but all he saw was a cut on her neck and some dried blood.

              "Why on earth would he ask you to scream?" Gus’ voice pulled Mick out of his thoughts.

              "Because he… I have no idea how… It must have been so painful." Kristen did not know how to put it. "He knew the guy who chained us up was close. He needed me scream to cover up his scream. He broke his thumbs to get out of his shackles."

              Henry smiled proudly and Gus jumped out of his chair with a "Yes!"

              Both Mick and Kristen were taken aback by the display of happiness. Seeing this, Henry explained. "That has to be Shawn! I taught him that when he was a teenager. It means he is alive!"

              "Shawn! Yes that was his name!" Kristen exclaimed before a look of shame came over her features. "I feel horrible. I just left him there after he saved me. He seemed okay when I left though, considering."

              "You taught your kid how to _break his hand_?" Mick raised an eyebrow.

              "Well it worked didn’t it?" Henry griped defensively and turned back to Kristen. "How did you end up escaping?"

              "We pretended I was dead and he was still shackled when the guy came into the room. Shawn attacked him with some sort of knife. I could not see what it was in the dark but it was pointy. I sat up and got on all fours so Shawn could trip him over me. It was his idea. He said I made a better table than his friend." Kristen recalled.

              Gus made an indignant tisk noise.

              Kristen gave Gus a sheepish look, realizing Shawn had probably meant him.

              "The guy had the key on him and after Shawn handed it to me I realized that he had stabbed the man right through the heart."

              "Shawn killed a dude?" Gus could not believe it.

              Henry hit him upside the head for the outburst.

              "He was still moving when I looked down… I saw something but I couldn’t be sure. If I didn’t know any better I would have thought the guy went very pale and then… grew fangs."

              The room went uncomfortably silent.

              Mick was the one brave enough to finally break it. "You were confused and hurt. The man probably went pale from blood loss." He tried to explain away what she saw. The less people that knew about their kind, the better.

              "Well, the last thing that happened before I ran was Shawn had taken the man’s hands and shackled them where he shackled me up. Why would he do that if the guy was dying?" Kristen looked at each of their faces. No one had an answer for that.

              "When did this happen?" Henry asked, looking for some kind of time reference.

              Kristen thought a moment. I got here right after it happened and I remember it being around 2:00am."

              "It is almost 3:00am now. If Shawn escaped why didn’t he come here or try to contact one of us?" Mick could see Henry was going out of his mind with worry.

              "We should call Juliet and Carlton and let them know. They are probably at the warehouse right now." Gus chimed in.

              "Whoa! They went to the warehouse?" Mick whirled to face Gus. When the two Detectives left the hospital Mick was only told they had other business to see too. "We have to get there now!"

              "What are you talking about−" Henry was interrupted by a gunshot from inside the station.

              Henry and Mick were the first to the door, trained reflexes had their bodies moving before their minds caught up. Gus was a step behind and Kristen gave a short scream and ducked down.

              Looking down towards the coroner’s office, where the shot came from, they saw a figure with short brown hair and a purple hoodie dashing down the hallway towards them. He stopped when he reached the hallway that split off to the holding cells about twenty feet from where the shocked men stood.

              It was Shawn.

              His mouth and chin were covered in blood along with the front of his shirt. His eyes registered fear and shame as he had to have seen the horrified looks on Henry and Gus’ faces. Finally his eyes settled on Mick. A darkness seemed to creep over his features, and Mick’s hair stood on the back of his neck at the cold glare he received from the psychic detective. Then, Shawn cracked an evil smile and he gave the vampire a wave before bolting down the hallway hollering, "Catch me if you can Mick!"


	10. Blood Never Lies

**Chapter 10- "Blood Never Lies"**

**15 minutes earlier:**

              Out of habit, and experience, Shawn knew where every camera in the precinct was and how to avoid most of them. That was the easy part. The hard part would be sneaking past the five officers on night duty, including Buzz McNab, a uniform cop friend of his who would probably recognize him even with the ridiculous hoodie on.

              He waited until he was sure no one was going to come out and bump into him before entering. With the gnawing hunger growing in him, he doubted he wanted to come face to face with anyone at the moment. There were two points he knew he would be caught on camera no matter what he did, coming in the door and going down the stairs to the sub-basement where his destination was. Hopefully with the hood up no one would know it was him.

              As he entered he peeked around the corner to see where everyone was and he caught sight of Buzz right away. He was hard to miss even in a crowded station because he was about six and a half feet tall. Another cop was talking to him and he turned to go back to his desk. Shawn stealthfully darted inside and around a pillar, then low crawled in front of desks, ducked behind potted plants, and scooted back to the wall through archways.

              Finally he got to the stairs.

              There was no place to hide on them so he sprinted, taking three steps at a time. The coroner’s office was just down the hall from the interrogation room. As he past it a scent stopped him in his tracks.

              "Dude, why does the hallway smell like flowers?" Shawn said to himself, wrinkling his nose in confusion. He could have sworn he saw a flash of Gus before blinking and shaking his head. "That’s just weird."

              Shawn continued down the hallway to Woody’s office. Fumbling with the doorknob he walked into the examination room and almost fell over in pain. Holding the sides of the door to help himself upright, Shawn got shakily to his feet. He was so close he could almost smell the blood…

              _Wait a minute._ Shawn gingerly sniffed. _That’s not blood._ Whirling around quickly earned him a smushed nose as he ran into a wall of blue.

              Buzz McNab stood right in front of him.

              "I’m sorry mam but I am going to have to escort you out…" Buzz got a closer look at him. "SHAWN? What are you doing here?" Buzz looked him up and down. "What are you wearing?"

              Shawn’s voice came out croaky and not his usual clear charismatic drawl. "Buzz, hey buddy. I was just following my psychic instincts and they brought me down here for something important."

              Shawn put his trademark hand to his head right before clutching his stomach and having to grip the side of the metal exam table. He was so close… the blood was right in the fridge five feet away.

              "I heard you were in the hospital!" Buzz watched Shawn with great concern. "Everyone here is going out of their minds with worry."

              Shawn tried to speak but his grip on the table failed and he fell weakly to his knees. Buzz stooped his large frame over and took Shawn under his arms to stand him up. Unfortunately, the action brought Shawn’s head right at the nape of Buzz’s neck.

              Shawn struggled weakly. "No, Buzz! You need to put me down!" He closed his eyes. _Don’t breathe!_ he thought.

              "Shawn, don’t go boneless on me! We have to call an ambulance and get you better. We can’t have you missing any doughnut Wednesdays." Shawn usually appreciated the timid man’s humor, but it was hard to be humorous when you were a hungry vampire that was practically stuck face first into someone’s jugular.

              "Buzz…" With one last protest Shawn opened his eyes. They were instantly drawn to the pulsing artery at Buzz’s throat. He couldn’t fight it anymore, he had tried. God knows he had tried. He came _so_ close too, but his resolve crumbled to nothing as his fangs grew and his vision focused on the target of his attack. Shawn’s mouth slowly opened as Buzz continued to try and get him to stand on his own.          

              "C’mon Shawn, let’s get you back to your dad. He is in the interrogation room."

              A hair’s breadth from sinking his fangs into Buzz, Shawn registered what he said. "My dad is here?"

              "Yeah." Buzz said still trying to sound upbeat. "Gus is here too."

              Feeling extraordinarily mortified at what he had been about to do, Shawn almost missed what Buzz said next.

              "Oh, and that private investigator guy who was looking for you earlier is with them." Shawn gripped Buzz’s shoulders, his nails digging in. He took two deep breaths and forced himself to calm down. "Ow Shawn! You have quite a grip." Buzz complained.

              Sweating and shaking, but fangless, Shawn’s serious face looked at Buzz. "What guy that was looking for me?"

              Stuttering Buzz answered, "He…uh… he came looking here for you earlier. He said he wanted to hire you for help. He must have run into your dad because apparently he has been hanging around all night." He looked questioningly at Shawn, "You didn’t come here with them did you?" Shawn shook his head, "They got here about ten minutes ago. Came barreling through the station."

              The still starving newbie vampire pushed away from Buzz and wiped a hand across his mouth. It was an unconscious tic he did when he was nervous, and at this moment he was incredibly nervous. The man, who was trying to find him to take him out was traipsing around with is dad and best friend. Shawn remembered his name was Mick.

              _Not cool._ Shawn thought with dismay. He had to do something about that guy, but first things first. He needed to get the officer away from him immediately.

              Playing on Buzz’s good nature and willingness to help, Shawn pretended to have a vision. He used his real pain and knew it had to have been his most compelling performance yet. "Oh! Oh no! Buzz! The thing I came to get is in there!" Shawn pointed to the back coroner’s office. "If you don’t get a beaker with blue liquid in it someone is going to die!" He wasn’t exactly lying. If Buzz didn’t get out of his reach now he was a goner.

              The young officer opened the door and rushed into the room to grab the item, which actually was just a beaker full of Woody’s favorite Gatorade flavor. Once he was past the door, Shawn pounced forward, slammed the door shut, locked it, and just for good measure broke the handle off his side of the door. That way he would not be able to get at Buzz if he wanted to.

              The look of hurt and betrayal on his friend’s face was more than Shawn could stand. "I’m sorry Buzz!" he called over his shoulder as he stumbled towards the fridge. "I will explain later and make it up to you in smoothies and cookies!"

              Pulling open the refrigerator door, Shawn looked in and smiled. "Woody, I love you, you creepy dude!" he shouted. Inside the fridge were two and a half fresh hospital packets of blood. He was too far gone to really try and think why in the world Woody would have these here. However his mind, finely trained to notice the slightest detail, did it for him. He remembered Woody saying he was testing Shawn’s blood with fresh blood to see what would happen. He had to have requested these for it.

              Laughing once again at the irony of the situation and ignoring Buzz kicking at the locked door, Shawn grabbed all three bags. He stuffed two in his hoodie and held onto the half full one, watching it slosh around inside.

              Silence followed by a muffled, "What the hell?" came through the door.

              Not wanting Buzz to see what he was about to do, Shawn went around the opposite side of the examination table and sat down. Now that he had the blood, he was a bit reluctant to drink it. Did he squirt it into his mouth or bite through the plastic? Did he swallow or did his fangs suck it up like sippy straws? Wishing he would have asked Aaron when he had the chance, he opened the bag and closed his eyes, squirting the red liquid into his mouth.          

              Swallowing was a natural reflex but once he actually tasted the blood, it was amazing! He couldn’t drink fast enough. He paused only to suck in gasps of air before drinking again. It took him only a few seconds to finish the half gone blood bag.

              Seconds later he grasped his chest and gasped. A tight pain radiated from his middle up towards his head, giving him the feeling of a bad ice cream headache. His heart was beating incredibly fast. His extremities started to tingle as if they had fallen asleep and were finally waking up.

              Breathing heavily Shawn fumbled for the second bag. He drank this one slower. Savoring the smooth texture. That was until a gunshot from behind him and the sound of shattering glass made him spit out an entire mouthful of blood, spilling it on his chin and clothes.

              "Damn it!" He swore and jumped up, dropping the blood bag and turning towards where he heard the bang.

              Buzz had shot through the glass and he was reaching through to unlock the door from the other side. Shawn decided it was time to go and beat feet down the hallway towards the emergency exit in the holding cells. As he came to the halfway point between the interrogation room and the coroner’s office, he was about to skid around the corner to the cells when people surged from the interrogation room right ahead of him.

              Henry, Gus and a young man around Shawn’s age with brown wavy hair, who could only be Mick, caught sight of him and stared at him in utter shock. Shawn knew he must look horrifying. The blood was still dribbling down his chin, tickling him. He so wanted to explain everything that happened but first he had to get Mick away from them. Shawn didn’t have any reason to trust Aaron but damned if he wasn’t right about the other vampire being after him. So he must also be right about him being willing to hurt people that get in his way.

              _Well, let’s go then, Jack._ Shawn shot an evil grin at Mick and waved. He turned and sprinted to the emergency exit yelling behind him, "Catch me if you can Mick!" hopefully he would take the bait and follow.

\-----------------------------------------------------------

              Shawn was down the hall and out the emergency exit door before he realized that this had to have been a really bad idea. Mick was almost right behind him and he was damn fast. Shawn was not exactly a snail either. He had never run so fast in his life, and even though he was passing everything at a rapid pace, it felt like he could see in slow motion.

              With his gift, he was used to seeing every little detail. _This_ however, was to a whole new level. It was like his capacity for sensory input had quadrupled. Lights were brighter, sounds, like Mick's rapidly gaining footfalls, were clearer. Since becoming a vampire he'd been so hungry and sick he hadn't had the chance to experience how acute their senses were. For someone like Shawn, it was a huge overload.

              As Mick started to close in, Shawn decided to deploy his time tested tactic of not going in a straight line. It was harder to do in the city, where buildings lined the street and there were few places to hide besides the clichéd dumpster. Shawn put a hand to his head as he kept his feet moving, trying to think of a way out of this. He remembered something Aaron said during the marathon questioning. He had only been trying to annoy his sire at the time, but he might have given some useful info.

              He had asked, _"Will I be able to leap tall buildings in a single bound?"_ Aaron had said, _"We can jump pretty high."_  Wanting to see what he could do, Shawn headed for a building and took a running jump at it. Far from being a smooth predatory night stalker, he looked more like "The Greatest American Hero" while flailing his hands as he hit the building a floor below the top before scrambling to grab the edge of a window. Looking down and seeing Mick watching him Shawn figured he had to have jumped at least three floors up.

              "Woo! Man, did you see that!? I could totally own at the Olympics!" Shawn shouted as he tried to haul himself up on the ledge, and away from the pursuing Mick. Shawn saw Mick hesitate a moment and make a practiced leap straight towards him. "Oh crap!" The psychic exclaimed and he let go of the ledge and fell straight down, landing right on his feet.

              Mick landed on the fire escape right below where Shawn was two seconds before. "Are you kidding me?!" Mick looked over the edge to see Shawn scampering down another alley.

              Apparently deciding on a different tactic, Mick hauled himself up on the roof and started chasing him from above. Shawn took the chance to glance over his shoulder. The other vampire had the high ground, and he was in _big_ trouble. Still running but looking around, he noticed a shadow moving up ahead of him. Figuring it out, he got an idea. Shawn kept his pace steady and straight while he watched the shadow.

              Mick tracked his quarry’s progress with practiced ease, and leaped at Shawn.

              Seeing the shadow move, Shawn spun on his heel and changed directions causing Mick to crash into the ground and hit a few garbage cans. Shawn quickly took the opportunity to duck behind a building and watch silently praying that Mick couldn't smell him from there. 

              Mick stood, shaking refuse from his clothes and pain from his limbs. He was almost starting to think Shawn actually was psychic. "How did he know to dodge? He was facing the ground!" Mick grumbled and looked around, but could not see anything. He figured Shawn had to be close, but was playing possum.

              "You know, it didn’t have to be this way!" Mick shouted. "No one had to die! You made that choice! If you come out now, peacefully, I won’t hurt you and no one else will be hurt!"

              Shawn stared in shock then leaned back against the wall closing his eyes in despair. Mick had just admitted to killing someone, and would hurt someone else if he didn’t come out. _Oh God. Who did he kill to try and get to me?_ Shawn thought frantically. He had not seen Juliet or Lassiter in a while, Woody was at the hospital. It could have been anyone. What if it was Juliet and he hadn't been there for her?

              No matter who it was, Shawn blamed himself. He had been too late to protect his friends. He clenched his jaw and decided he was done running. _If this guy wants me to come out, no problem_.

              When Shawn opened his eyes they were white, then he stepped out of the shadows. Mick heard a noise and turned towards it. Shawn was standing a few feet away from him, fists clenched and looking furious. "Dude, you said the wrong thing!"

              Shawn bared his fangs and with a screech like roar he leapt low and caught Mick in the stomach, not quite bowling him over. Mick brought up a knee and caught Shawn in the face. Feeling his nose break Shawn yelped in pain and gripped it which left him open for another punch from Mick that sent him sprawling.

              As Shawn was trying to get off the ground, Mick reached in his jacket and pulled out a knife with a long blade and a weighted tip. Shawn’s eyes widened as he saw the small sword.

              "Where the hell did that come from?"

              "It’s custom." Mick said simply.

              Moving into a crouching position Shawn’s tone turned sarcastic, "Oh, the little vampire has to use a knife. Can’t manage to fight me on your own huh?"

              For a second, Mick’s features showed the regret he was feeling and Shawn saw it. Steeling his resolve Mick replied, "I didn’t bring this out to fight you." Mick had designed the knife for one real purpose. The only way to kill a vampire was with fire, or to remove their heads.

              A wave of realization hit Shawn that Mick really was going to kill him, and he would never be able to see the people he loved again. For Shawn, that was worse than dying.

              As Mick aimed the knife at Shawn’s neck, Shawn remembered how he fought Gus over a dagger and the move Gus had used to get it out of his hand. Crouching low Shawn did a low roundhouse kick that sent the knife skittering across the alley. Both Mick and Shawn dived for the dagger, Mick getting there first. He swiped Shawn across the chest and opened a slash right through the glittery "Sexy" of the purple hoodie.

              Backing up and looking down at it, Shawn said, "I never liked this shirt anyway." before jumping at the knife in Mick’s hands. As they grappled, Shawn slammed his heel down on Mick’s foot and elbowed him in the face. Releasing the knife Mick stumbled back into a wall.

              Shawn pointed the knife threateningly at Mick who put up his hands in a placating gesture. Shawn growled and moved forward in a combat stance almost pinning him to the wall, the blade at his neck.

              "Who did you kill?" Shawn demanded.

              Mick, taken aback by the question got a confused look on his face. "What are you talking about?"

              "You said no one else had to die if I came with you, ergo, you killed someone! Who was it? Was it Juliet?" Shawn aimed the sword closer to Mick's neck.

              "I never killed anyone! I was talking about _you_." Mick saw Shawn’s eyebrows rise. "You killed and fed on someone at the police station."

              Shawn was about to answer the ridiculous accusation when he heard a nose of someone approaching.

              "Shawn?"

              Mick’s eyes turned back to normal and fangs retracted as they both turned to look towards who spoke. Gus was staring wide eyed at his best friend covered in blood and holding a knife to Mick’s neck. "Shawn what the hell are you doing and what the HELL are you wearing?"

              Completely forgetting Mick Shawn turned to Gus, who backed up as he approached. He noticed there was something wrong with his friend’s face. "Gus. I can explain everything. I didn’t…" Shawn got pitched forward by Mick who took advantage of Gus’ distraction. Mick got an arm around Shawn’s throat and started to squeeze.

              Gus instinctually started to make a move to help Shawn but Mick cowed him with a look. "He isn’t your friend anymore! Killing that person at the police station proved it!"

              Shawn made some choking sounds as Gus spoke up. "No one at the police station is dead! Buzz got locked in a room and fired a shot to break the glass and get out!"

              "What? Then where did all the blood on his face and clothes come from?" Mick questioned, not letting up on his choke hold.

              Reaching a hand into the hoodie’s pocket, Shawn pulled out the last bag of hospital blood he had put in there earlier. He managed to choke out, "From Woody…" Mick instantly released Shawn and backed up. Finally believing he had harmed no one.

              Gus’ eyes were hooked on the bag of blood. "Woody was right, you _have_ gone crazy. You even put in contacts and vampire teeth? Really Shawn?" He looked up and saw the hurt on Shawn’s face. "Look, we will get you the best help, I will come see you every day, everything will be okay buddy."

              "Gus. I am not crazy! I'm actually a vampire." Shawn pointed at Mick, "Him too!"

              That was the last straw for Gus. He pointed right at Shawn and started his rant. "Mick has spent all day with us trying to find you! You were supposed to be kidnapped and then your dad when ballistic when you showed up at the station without telling anyone! As it was I had to follow your ass out here in the middle of the night and find you trying to murder him!"

              "I was told he was out to kill me and would be willing to hurt you guys to do it!" Shawn said angrily back to Gus.

              "Is that why you attacked…" Mick started before the friends turned in his direction.

              "SHUT IT!" They yelled in unison before going back to arguing.

              Mick backed off and decided to let them duke it out. He was just happy in the fact that he knew Shawn had not killed anyone and would be okay.

              "Okay Shawn." Gus placated his insane friend. "I believe you… let’s get back to the station and your dad and I can get you some more blood…" Gus looked to Mick for support in playing along.

              Mick shook his head. It was never easy to let someone you care about know what you are when you are a vampire. There is always the fear that they won’t see you for who you are anymore. His girlfriend Beth had found out the hard way when she found him gravely injured in his home sucking down blood bags as fast as he could. She eventually came to terms with the truth of what he was, but he had seen it go the other way too.

              Turning around, Shawn handed Mick’s knife back and nodded. They both knew that neither was a danger to the other anymore having realized their huge mix up. "I’ll get back to you in a minute."

              Shawn then stepped towards Gus, "I can prove it to you but you might want to sit down buddy."

              "I’ll stand." Gus wanted to be able to run if need be. If his best bud was this out of his mind he didn’t know what to expect.

              Shawn stepped up to Gus and concentrated. Initially, Gus was less than impressed. Shawn felt his fangs start to retract and he knew it was working. He opened his eyes showing the bright hazel Gus was used to. That’s when Gus took off like a scared jackal down the street.

              Mick cocked his head in Gus’ direction. "I would go get him if I were you."

              Shawn gave him a smirk before he took off catching up to Gus easily and stopping right in front of him. "Gus I won’t hurt you!" Gus wailed and turned the other way but Shawn was instantly there again. "You need to calm down."

              Holding both hands out with his fingers in the shape of a cross Gus backed up. "Don’t eat me! I… uh…just ate garlic at the station! Wouldn’t want to poison you or anything."

              "That is really hurtful Gus." Shawn said with a pout, "You should be ready and willing to be my vampire slave for eternity. Now where am I going to find another mind slave…"

              "That’s not funny Shawn!" Gus dropped his hands. "And vampires don’t have mind slaves!"

              Shawn knew Gus too well and knew he would never pass up a chance to correct him. The tension of the moment was gone but it was followed up by a silent awkwardness that was almost as uncomfortable.

              "So," Gus spoke first. "The blood from the hospital did this?"

              "Yeah, been a vampire for almost three whole days and all I got was this lousy shirt." Shawn pulled at the purple hoodie.

              "It kind of ruins the whole vampire image." Gus observed.

              "That’s what I said." Shawn smiled.

              Mick came walking up and saw the two were talking. They both looked at him as he approached.

              "Mick, no offense about the whole sword thing. I hope this doesn’t come between us and our relationship." Shawn grinned at him.

              "None taken."

              "Mick, you're a vampire too?" Gus asked and Mick nodded. "Damn, I couldn’t tell."

              "We’re a private bunch. We don’t like too many people knowing about us." Mick explained.

              Shawn whined and remembered Gus wasn't the only one who'd have to find out about his new condition. "Well I am still trying to figure out how I'm going to tell Jules about this."

              At the mention of Juliet, Mick’s eyes widened and he got a worried look on his face. "Oh no."

              Getting defensive, Shawn said, "Oh no? What do you mean 'Oh no.' You can’t just say ' _Oh no_.' What happened to Jules?"

              Gus realized Mick’s problem. "Juliet and Lassiter went to the warehouse where you were kidnapped to. They have been gone about a half hour already."

              Shawn growled in frustration, "I left Aaron there chained up and staked! If they haven't reported something by now then they're in trouble!" Shawn looked at Mick, "The station is only four blocks from here. Did you bring your car?" Mick nodded. "Then let’s go! SHOTGUN!" Shawn took off running but not as fast as he could have.

              "Shawn! That’s not fair, I can’t run as fast as you!" Gus hollered after him.

            Mick caught up with Shawn easily, and the psychic looked deep in thought. "Why aren’t you in more of a hurry? Isn’t she your girlfriend?"

              "I know Jules. If she hasn’t called that means Aaron already has them. I don’t usually say this, but we need some sort of plan. I can’t lose her Mick. The thought of her is the only thing that has kept me sane through all of this."

              "I'll help you get her back. No matter what it takes." Mick could see Shawn would not stop until Juliet was safe because Mick knew that feeling too. He had given up everything to save Beth when she was captured. That is what they were going to need if they were going to survive this. If Aaron was as old as Josef said he was, this was not going to be easy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mick and Shawn finally meet! The fight was so hard, but fun to write. :)


	11. Facing the Facts

**Chapter 11- "Facing the Facts"**

              Shawn, Gus, and Mick got back to the station within a few minutes and headed straight for Mick's car. Shawn saw that it was a black vintage Mercedes convertible. He turned to Mick and asked, "Leather interior?"

              "Oh yeah." Mick smugly replied.

              "Sweet." Looking towards Gus, Shawn asked. "Any luck?"

              On the way back Gus had called both Juliet and Lassiter’s phones with no answer. He shook his head at his friend's worried face. "That confirms it. They wouldn’t ignore that many phone calls unless something was wrong." He put a hand on Shawn’s back. "We'll get them back, don’t worry."

              Shawn _was_ worried though. He’d seen how savage Aaron could be. Just thinking about him having Juliet was too much. His breathing started to hitch and he shut his eyes tightly, willing himself to keep it together. _Stay calm… just a little bit longer._

              They were all about to get in the car when the trio spotted a figure sprinting in their direction. It was Henry. Shawn made an undignified squeak of surprise as Gus pushed him roughly behind another vehicle and turned to face Henry’s approach.

              "Any sign of him?" Henry gasped out breathlessly as he took in Mick’s disheveled appearance caused by the fight. "What the hell happened to you?"

              "Tripped into some garbage. No damage done, just a little scuffed up." Mick admitted.

              Henry glared at the detective, then turned to Gus.

              The young man squirmed under his gaze; Gus was never able to successfully lie to Henry. That is what he usually had Shawn for. He tried to play it cool and nodded in agreement with Mick. "Was quite the tumble. Took me a while to help him limp back."

              "Gus, where is he? What did he do to convince you to cover for him?" Henry looked around the parking lot for any sign of his son.

              "What makes you think we’re covering for him?" Mick asked with a raised eyebrow.

              Henry rubbed his head and grumbled, "Because he has taken advantage of Gus almost his whole life rather than face up to his own problems."

              _I do not!_ Shawn glared angrily. Gus was a willing accomplice, but he knew his dad wouldn’t give up until he found him. Cursing silently he peeked around the back of a vehicle and could see the distress on Henry’s face. His anger melted away for the moment and Shawn realized he would have to tell him sooner or later what happened, and sooner was better. Plus, he figured his dad might just be able to help with the rescue mission.

              Shawn snuck up quickly behind his dad, he wanted to at least have a little fun with his big reveal. Gus and Mick saw what he planned to do and gave him expressions that clearly meant, ‘Don’t do it.’

              _Here goes nothing._

\----------------------------------

              Henry was furious. _Beyond_ furious. The two men in front of him were playing games when Shawn could be dying for all he knew. It was well within his rights as Shawn’s father to demand they tell him where he was.

              "And another thing…" Henry started before taking in the expressions of the men standing in front of him. Following their gazes he turned around, coming face to face with Shawn.

              Blood covered his mouth and shirt. A new stream of it that was still wet had trickled down from his nose, and some older, dried blood was splattered on the backs of his hands.

              "Hey Dad." Shawn leaned against a vehicle, "Did you have something you wanted to say to me?"

              Henry felt a huge range of emotions towards his wayward son and it showed on his face as it changed from surprise to concern, then to anger. Finally when Shawn thought his father was going to punch him in the face himself, Henry grasped him in a tight bear hug. After a moment of hesitation, Shawn returned the hug.

              Stepping back Henry took in Shawn’s appearance. "Shawn, I don’t know what’s going on, but from what Buzz told me, you need some help kid. Drinking blood? What is the matter with you?" Henry grasped his son by the arms facing him. "We need to get you to a hospital."

              Shawn rolled his eyes. "Dad, a hospital isn’t going to help me right now, I'm fine."

              "I didn't mean _that_ type of hospital Shawn. This isn't some sort of childhood fantasy you and Gus like to play at. I can deal with those." He started to lead Shawn away.

              "Henry, you should listen to what he has to say." Mick stepped forward and tried to reason with him.

              Whirling towards Mick, furious at the detective for keeping his son from him, he poked his finger into Mick's chest. "Look, thanks for finding my son and all, but I don't know you. I don't need you fueling his delusions."

              "I suppose you’re disappointed in me again. Go figure." Sarcasm dripped from Shawn's voice, but Henry was _not_ going to let his son make this a pity party.

              "I thought you were _dead_ Shawn, " Henry glared. "and here you are traipsing around covered in blood. Tell me that isn't a problem and I will let you go right now."

              Shawn yanked out of his grip. "I don’t have a lot of time to explain what happened, Dad! Jules and Lassie haven’t been answering their phones and they haven’t checked in with anyone. Gus and Mick said they went to the warehouse I was taken to and if that is the case they are in serious trouble."

              "Why?" Henry asked, "The girl you were captured with said you killed the man that took you." Thinking about it, he figured that may be why his son had a psychotic break. Killing someone was a very traumatizing act.

              "Kristen? She's here?" Gus and Mick nodded. Shawn threw his arms up in exasperation. "Well could you tell her from me that next time we’re captured in a freezer together it’s her turn to break her thumbs."

              "What?" Henry grabbed at Shawn’s hands. He had completely forgotten about it and knew Shawn would need medical attention for them soon. "Mick, Gus, and I can get Juliet and Lassiter. You need to get your injuries checked out."

              "Dad you’re not listening, as usual. The doctor who took me wasn’t normal and he wasn’t dead. Jules is in a lot of danger and we have to go now!" Shawn headed for the vehicle as Henry’s hand shot out and grabbed him by the arm.

              "Don’t walk away from me Shawn!" Henry shouted.

              Shawn whipped around to face his dad, eyes milky white and teeth bared. "Don’t grab me!" he snarled and yanked his arm away.

              Henry fell back almost directly into Gus’ arms. He quickly backed away from all three men, his gaze shifted between Gus and Mick looking for some sort of explanation. "What happened to my son!?"

              "Well, I guess the vampire is out of the bag." His son shrugged.

              "Shawn, there are no such things as vampires. There can't be!" Henry pointed out, still keeping his distance.

              "Trust your eyes dad, the guy that did this to me has my Jules and I need all the help I can get to save her." Shawn’s eyes darkened and turned back to their normal brownish green making Henry’s heart jump in his chest again. "I promise I will tell you everything later, but right now I'm going, with you or without you." Shawn walked towards the car.

              "Shawn!" Henry shouted causing him to turn around, but his son's smirk returned as he trudged towards the Mercedes. "You better have a good story for this. I wouldn’t want to think I was losing my mind for no reason."

\------------------------------------

              Mick got in the front and saw Gus was already there waiting. It wasn’t long before he heard Shawn complain. "Dude I called shotgun! You just broke a sacred rule of carpooling!"

              "I don’t know what you’re talking about Shawn. I just figured you wanted to sit next to your dad." Gus had a smug look on his face.

              Shawn grumpily got in the backseat along with Henry who still seemed to be wary of him. Mick made sure everyone was set and started the engine. "You’re going to have to tell me where the place is Shawn."

              Putting his hand to his head the psychic's eyes flew back and forth for a moment. "Got it. Just follow this road a bit." He pointed down the almost deserted main road.

              Squealing out of the police station Mick glanced at Shawn in the rear view mirror. "So what do you know about the vampire who took you?" He needed all of the information he could get so they could make some sort of plan to get the guy.

              "His name is Aaron, he is a doctor and… oh yeah, he's crazy. Like the; ‘I’m saving you by chaining you up and driving a stake through your chest.' kinda crazy.’" Shawn said in a low mocking voice.

              "He staked you?" Gus asked, in wide eyed amazement. "Shouldn’t that kill you?"

              Mick shook his head and explained, "It only paralyzes us. We recover but it’s very draining. Which is why Shawn is worried. The detectives could have stumbled upon Aaron and let him up. He’d be hungry."

              "Hold on one second. St. John is a vampire too?" Henry said in skeptical disbelief.

              "Dad, he was looking for me the whole time so he could help me through this." Shawn scoffed, and went back to talking to Mick "He was also really clingy. Almost treated me like I was his kid or something."

              Henry made an indignant noise.

              "Vampires usually feel some protectiveness for their fledglings, but some take it so far as to think of it as being reborn and the sire is the parent."

              "Who was your sire Mick?" Gus asked, obviously curious.

              "My ex-wife turned me on our wedding night." It was a painful memory, but after so long Mick was practiced at pushing it to the back of his mind.

              "If that's the case, it brings the term Odysseus complex to a whole new level." Shawn wrinkled is nose.

              "It’s Oedipus complex Shawn." Gus blurted.

              Shawn shrugged "I’ve heard it both ways." He then rubbed at his face, the dried blood felt weird and sticky.

              "Shawn, for God’s sake wash your face. You look like a crazy person." Henry scolded.

              Shawn grabbed the front of the hoodie and wiped his face off. "Gus, how does it look now?"

              Glancing over his shoulder, Gus pursed his lips. "You're going to need some wet wipes."

              Shawn sighed and stared out the window, grumpily lamenting at his situation. Suddenly, sitting up straighter, he exclaimed and pointed at a building, "That’s it! Stop!"

              Mick ignored him and kept going.

              "Wait, what are you doing? That was it!" Shawn complained.

              "If I stop right in front of the place Aaron will hear us within a second. We need surprise to get him… and some more info." As Mick stopped he flipped open his phone and called Josef. He really hoped his friend would have some more information on what to do, and maybe the vampire himself.  

              A loud bang resonated through the phone as the line was picked up. "Mick, not a good time!" Josef shouted as two more bangs cracked in the vampire detective's ear.

              Mick winced at the loudness and everyone in the car’s attention was on the conversation. "Those are gunshots!" Gus exclaimed and both Henry and Shawn gave him a look that clearly said, 'No duh.'

              "What the hell is going on Josef?!" Had Aaron sent people or even other vampires to attack Josef to collect his other fledgling?

              "They broke into my building! You know the new turn I'm babysitting? His friends think I kidnapped him. Apparently they run some sort of security company. They aren’t happy Mick!" Josef sounded more annoyed than scared. A shattering noise caused Josef to groan, "YOU ARE PAYING FOR THAT VASE!" he roared, facing away from the phone. Josef then went back to talking quickly in the receiver. "I could use some back up. You know that knight in shining armor stunt you always pull? Well now's the time to pull it!"

              "I would love to help, but I'm dealing with my own issues. I found Shawn, he's okay. He says the rogue’s name is Aaron." Mick took the phone away from his ear as more gunshots nearly deafened him.

              "Aaron?!" Josef questioned, yelling above the throng of gunfire and shouts, "Are you sure? I heard he was dead!"

              Shawn leaned into the phone, "What do you mean he's dead?"

              "A few weeks ago his house burnt down. Not sure who did it, but I was told everyone died. He was always a bit of a head case, and a traditionalist if you get my meaning Mick. You need to be−" The line cut out.

              "Son of a bitch." Mick grumbled and put away the phone. It looked like they were on their own. _How am I going to fight a centuries old vampire with two humans and a baby vamp?_

              "Your friend going to be okay, right?" Henry asked.

              "I'm not too worried about him but I'll have to get going after we get _your_ friends."

              Shawn leaned over from the back seat, "What exactly… is a traditionalist vampire? Cape? Accent? Aaron didn’t seem to have that going for him."

              "Traditionalist means that they usually feed from humans and have a family of fledglings." Everyone looked at Shawn who had a look of utter horror on his face at the realization of what Aaron had intended for him.

              Henry was the first to voice his thoughts, "You're saying he picked my son to be part of a male vampire harem?"

              "Don’t you dare put it like that dad!" Shawn shouted indignantly.

              Gus cocked his head, "That’s what it sounds like to me."

              Not finding this funny at all he punched Gus in the arm none too gently and got out of the vehicle. Gus was about to follow when Mick stopped him. "You might want to give us a couple minutes." Nodding, Gus watched Mick get out and follow Shawn a few feet away from the car.

              "They're just trying to cheer you up you know." Mick motioned Shawn over to the trunk.

              "Dude I know, but it’s just a lot to process." Shawn ran his hands through his hair. Mick smirked at the way he looked just like his dad when he did it, minus the hair part.

              He opened his trunk. Inside was a small cooler and a suitcase. Shawn raised an eyebrow. "Don’t tell me vampires keep day bags, that would be just wrong."

              "I like to think of it as an overnight bag." Mick replied, opening the suit case and tossing a shirt to Shawn who mumbled his thanks and quickly changed shirts, throwing the ruined hoodie in the back of the trunk. The cooler Mick brought held five larger packs of blood. "Finish the bag in your pocket and then drink this one." Mick handed him one of the bags. "I know you're in a hurry but you need to be ready for what we have to do."

              Shawn fidgeted as Mick watched him with the blood. Turning around and facing away, Shawn fumbled open the bags and chugged both of them in record time. Actually being able to feed on more than a few swallows would make Shawn feel not only better, but a lot better.

              Mick grabbed and was finishing his own bag when Shawn turned back around. Looking at the other three bags Shawn asked, "Why do you carry so much with you? We don’t drink gallons or anything do we?" He took off the hoodie and threw it in the trunk before putting the spare shirt on.

              Laughing at the question, Mick shook his head. "No, I would say without injury a pint or two a day is just fine. I just brought more for when I found you." Mick dug farther in the suit case and pulled out a gun.

              Shawn cocked his head and made his ‘clue face’ looking for any deception tells in Mick’s features. "You really weren’t planning on killing me were you?"

              "I was really hoping not to, especially after meeting your friends." Shawn smirked and snorted in amusement. "Look Shawn, killing rogues is a messy business, and I'm really sorry you got caught in the crossfire." Mick handed the gun to Shawn, "Speaking of, did you really shoot out a truck’s radiator while on the hood of a car going 70mph _after_ being shot?"

              "Lassie telling war stories again?" Mick nodded. "Yeah, my dad tried to teach me to be a good little detective. I don’t think I lived up to all his expectations, but I think by now he's just learned to go with what he could get."

              "By that, you mean you being psychic." Mick observed. From what he'd seen, and heard from other people, his skepticism was waning. He'd never seen a human do some of the things that Shawn did.

              "Yeah. I am usually a bit more impressive but with everything going on my psychic vibes are off." Shawn shrugged and walked around the front of the car. He knocked on the window startling Gus. "You guys coming or what?"

\----------------------------------------

              Juliet woke abruptly. The shock to her system and bump to her head caused her to pass out for what she thought were a few minutes. It was cold in the warehouse and she noticed the freezer door was still wide open. She looked around for what could have woken her up, and she heard her cell phone go off again. She tried to reach it but realized her hands were cuffed when slivers of pain radiated down her arm at the movement. Her wrist had to be broken where the man had grabbed it.

              "Welcome back detective O’Hara." The man greeted her with a sly smile and a wave of her badge. Juliet jumped at the voice and tried to move away. "I took the liberty of reading your badge while you slept. I am Aaron by the way, pleased to meet you." Juliet saw him wipe fresh blood from his hands onto his doctor's coat.

              Seeing where she was looking he smiled glanced across the room at a body lying in the same position he landed in. However, now there was a small pool of blood around his head. "Carlton!" Juliet shouted.

              "Yes, the blood came from him. I think the impact with the wall may have put him in a coma." Aaron licked his fingers and Juliet cringed. "I didn’t want it to go to waste. The gaping chest wound Shawn left me with needed some attention." He said bitterly.

              _This man is crazy!_ Juliet easily concluded. Woody had said something about Shawn thinking he was a vampire but what she figured was really going on is this guy gave Shawn something to make it appear that way. There were no vampires. She had proved that a few months ago when everyone else seemed to go over the deep end. She alone had kept her wits about her. She wasn’t about to lose them now.

              "What kind of sick infatuation do you have with Shawn?" Juliet spat, still not taking her eyes off her partner’s still body. _Please don't be dead. Hold on._

              "Someone sounds jealous." Aaron mocked and raised his eyebrows. Juliet glared daggers at him. "Well don’t be. That would be just sick. I only did what I did to save him."

              "And what exactly did you do besides poison him and abduct him from a hospital?" Juliet gave Aaron a confused look.

              "None of you understand what I am trying to do!" Aaron shouted and towered over Juliet. He quickly composed himself, "I picked Shawn because he would have died."

              Squirming uncomfortably in her spot on the floor, Juliet shook her head. "I was there! After his accident the doctors said he lost a lot of blood but would be okay."

              Aaron looked at Juliet with contempt and curled his lip. "I have been around for _hundreds_ of years. I have lived through countless wars, seen many injuries. I am a doctor after all."

              Moving closer to Juliet he sniffed her, getting mere centimeters from her face.

              "I can smell death detective. What the doctor’s didn’t tell you was that due to blood loss and the tourniquet that needed to be applied to Shawn’s arm, he most likely would have lost it to necrosis in a day. His arm was already dying from the lack of blood when I visited him." Juliet closed her eyes and turned away from Aaron’s gaze but he continued, "After he lost the arm his weakened immune system would have shut down shortly after, no matter how much blood he was given to replace the amount he lost. He had two days at the most."

              "Liar!" She shouted and spat in his face.

              Aaron lifted a hand to smack her but stopped. "I’m surrounded by ingrates. I admit, I am not the best parent but I did try to protect him. The man hunting him would have killed him like the others had I not gotten there first."

              Juliet put the pieces together and gasped, "Mick!"

              "I took him just in time." Pride seeped into Aaron’s voice. "Now he is out there, alone, and upset." He frowned, almost like it was in sympathy. "I'm surprised at how soon he managed to find blood though, but then again, there are _so many_ people to choose from." He chuckled darkly.

              "Shawn would never hurt anyone!" Juliet knew her man. It was just impossible to think of him going out of his way to kill another person.

              Aaron shrugged. "Well if he didn’t he would be dead by now, and he is not. I can tell."

              Juliet glared as Aaron walked over to the unconscious Carlton and sat next to him, absentmindedly dipping his fingers in the pooled blood and licking them. Juliet was doing her best to focus on the man, and not what he was doing.

              "You're a hypocrite." Juliet saw Aaron give her a death look. "You save people and then send them out to kill others? What kind of doctor does that?"

              Aaron smiled, which was some how more frightening, and dipped his whole hand into Carlton’s blood. He then gave it a savagely, theatrical, lick. "We all have our issues detective."

              That’s when Juliet lost her lunch.


	12. Turning Point

**Chapter 12- "Turning Point"**

              A block away from the warehouse they made their rescue plan. Mick didn’t want anyone else to get hurt, so he did his best to explain to Shawn, Henry, and Gus how vampires fought. Not that Henry or Gus could do much against a vampire, but Shawn would have a good chance if their spat in the alley had taught him anything.

              "When vampires fight, we tend to grapple and throw." Mick explained. "We heal too fast for our injuries to stop us, so the point of engaging each other is to disorient your opponent long enough to either stake," He handed Gus a wooden stake. "or cut off heads."

              Henry looked at the stake in Gus’s hand. "Well, how do vampires fight humans?"

              Shawn saw the look Mick gave Henry and got it right away. "They don’t."

              "That’s right." Mick pointed at the two humans. "You can shoot, or cause a distraction but your main goal is to grab the hostages while I keep Aaron busy. Do not get close to him. One hit could kill you."

              Shawn shifted uncomfortably as he saw his father and Gus look at him. It was slowly sinking into their heads that Shawn was not human anymore. The psychic shifted under their gazes and Mick felt sorry for the young man.

              "Soooo…." He over enunciated, "What did you hand me the gun for if it wouldn’t slow him down much?"

              "The gun is full of silver bullets." Mick clarified.

              "You know that’s for werewolves right?" Shawn scoffed, "Oh man, does he have werewolf body guards that I never noticed. That is not fair. Gus! Make a note that we need werewolf bodyguards at the office door." He continued sarcastically raising his fist for a bump from Gus.

              "You know that’s right!" Gus returned the bump.

              Mick looked at Henry, "Are they always like this?"

              "Always." Henry stood with his arms crossed.

              Shaking his head, Mick returned to the plan. "Shawn, you are going to run protection for Henry and Gus. Make sure they get the hostages out safely. I’ll keep Aaron busy, but if anything happens to me, I want you to run. Take your friends and family and go. Don’t be a hero."

              "How are we going to get inside without him seeing us?" Henry asked warily. “He’s bound to be on his guard.”

              Shawn put his hands to his head and seemed to be concentrating hard. Mick was just about to as what he was doing, when his eyes popped open and he exclaimed, “There’s a back door! If Mick goes in the front door, we can sneak in the back and grab Lassie and Jules."

              "But what about Aaron? Won’t he be able to smell you the second you get in?" Gus asked, pitching in with his own question.

              "He's going to know I’m there no matter what. It is just keeping him from realizing you’re there too that will be the issue." Gus nodded at Mick’s answer. "Great. If all goes well I should be able to take him out. You know what to do if it doesn’t go well." Mick looked solemn, and the group headed quietly the rest of the way to the warehouse.

              At the warehouse, but before splitting up, Shawn gave Mick a light sock in the shoulder. "Dude, be careful. I have your back." He started to follow Henry and Gus to the back of the warehouse but he stopped and turned around. "And… thanks."

              Mick nodded giving a half smile. He headed to the front door, his hand poised on the knob. He cursed himself for not calling his girlfriend, Beth before he agreed to this. If he lived through this she just might kill him the next time he saw her.

\------------------------------------------

            Juliet could see that Aaron was getting antsy. It had already been an hour since the detectives showed up and she figured their presence had to have been missed by now. She wondered where everyone was as she watched Aaron pace back and forth. The angry vampire grumbled, "Maybe I overestimated his importance to you."

              As Aaron got more impatient he started acting more aggressively. Randomly growling and kicking any loose objects scattered on the floor. He almost kicked the stake that had been shoved in his and Shawn’s chest but he stopped and picked it up, twirling it in his fingers.

              "Maybe I need to go get him." He said aloud and crouched down to look at Juliet. "He might not come for you after all. Such a shame."

              She tried to ignore the clench her heart felt at the words. He moved closer and reached to stroke her face. She quickly moved her head away from his touch in disgust. He still had her partner's blood all over his hands. "Don't touch me!"

              Carlton was still unresponsive a little ways away from her but she could see he was still breathing, but it he wasn't moving and was getting more and more pale every passing minute.

              Suddenly, Aaron stood up straight and growled. Juliet saw him sniff and look around and settle on the now open front door of the warehouse. "What the hell?" His gaze swept around the room, but he looked straight up a moment too late.

\-------------------------------------

              Mick had climbed into the rafters immediately after entering. As the older vampire finally had the presence to look up, he leaped at Aaron and tackled him to the floor. With a snarl Aaron’s fangs grew and he kicked Mick over his head and off of him. Rolling to his feet Mick drew out his large knife.

              The vampires circled each other.

              "How did you find me?" Aaron asked while looking for an opening in Mick’s defenses.

              _Stall, stall!_ He didn't see the other three men yet, and if they didn't get in quickly Aaron would probably think something was up. "Shawn told me exactly where you were… before I chopped his head off." Mick lied, brandishing his knife, and hoping it would throw Aaron off. "He attacked a cop at the station, so I did what I had to do."

              "NO!" A heart breaking scream erupted from Juliet followed by panic stricken sobs. Mick’s eyes flicked towards her in a silent apology. He couldn’t even imagine what Beth would do if she thought he had died.

              Aaron hissed. "You _lie_! I would know if he was dead."

              Mick smirked, trying to get Aaron angry. "You give yourself too much credit. You may be old but you are a pathetic vampire."

              Aaron couldn’t take any more. With a roar he charged Mick and easily ducked under the swipe of his knife. Aaron seemed to be really fast for a vampire, and after a few more failed swipes with the blade Mick rammed his shoulder onto him which sent both of them tumbling to the floor. Shaking the dizziness away he barely had time to look up before seeing a boot kick him in the face.

              Dazed for a moment and laying on his back, Mick wondered where the heck his wing-man was. Weren’t they supposed to be almost right behind him?

\----------------------------------------

              Shawn, Henry and Gus peeked around the corner of the freezer at the fighting Mick and Aaron. They had finally been able to pick the lock on the back door with Henry’s trusty knife and a metal spring from Gus’ pharmaceutical badge he kept in his pocket. Shawn seriously hoped the setback hadn't screwed up the plan.

              However, once he caught sight of Juliet crying and handcuffed and Carlton’s still and bloody form it had taken both Henry and Gus to even slow Shawn down. His strategic brain shut off and with little effort he started around the corner as they pulled with all their might to keep him hidden.

              "Shawn!" Gus grunted holding one of his friend’s legs. "Remember the plan!"

              "Kid stop! This isn’t going to help them!" Henry reasoned with his son.

              Finally, Shawn gave in and allowed himself to be dragged back behind the freezer before Aaron saw him.

              Watching Mick and Aaron fall to the floor they decided it was time to grab the hostages and get them out. Mick could fight, but to Shawn it didn't look like he'd be able to hold off a vampire of Aaron's age for long. Sure enough, before anyone could move towards the injured detectives, Aaron got to his feet and pulled out a wooden stake from his coat.

              They heard Mick exclaim, "Aw crap!" a moment before it was pushed through his heart.

              Shawn had wanted to scream in frustration. They had not even gotten close to grabbing their friends.

              "We need another distraction." Henry mouthed.

              Gus turned to Shawn and whispered. _"Shawn, you are faster, you grab them. I will distract him."_

              _"I can hold him off longer you go."_ Shawn insisted.

              _"I can pull my Sookie line."_

              _"Your Sookie line? I let you do it last time. It doesn’t make it yours!"_

              _"You can’t say it as well as I can Shawn!"_

              _"Jules is my girlfriend, it wouldn’t make sense if you said it!"_

              Shawn and Gus continued to argue. Each man fervently whispering their case. Before Henry could get fed up and put a stop to their bickering, Shawn got the last word.

              _"I’m the vampire!"_

              Gus tsked in defeat and fell back behind Shawn.

              "Let me get him turned away from you before you get them." Gus and Henry nodded. Taking a deep breath Shawn popped out from behind the freezer just in time to see Aaron raising Mick’s knife to sever the prone man’s head.

              "Go get-um Shawn!" Gus encouraged.

              "HEY!" Shawn shouted to get his sire's attention. Aaron looked back with a shocked expression, knife still raised. Shawn gave a loud growl as his eyes changed and his fangs extended. "Juliet, is mine!"

              "Shawn!" Juliet’s jaw dropped. Shawn knew he'd have to explain everything when and _if_ they got out of this. The desperate look in her eyes gave him the courage to keep going with the plan, even though he was completely terrified.

              Aaron lowered his arm as Shawn walked in a circle to get Aaron’s back to Gus and Henry. "I see your chest healed up, mine too." Shawn pointed to his heart. Looking in Mick’s direction he stated. "You sure do have issues with sticking people with wooden objects."

              "Run!" Mick managed to get out. His eyes stared upward towards the ceiling, unable to move them.

              Aaron looked at Shawn with a mixture of emotions, not unlike the look Henry had given him less than twenty minutes ago right before hugging him. "Shawn, you came back to me."

              "God no!" Shawn said disgustedly. "I came back for Jules and Lassie."

              Aaron took a step forward and pleaded, "You have to come with me. No one else with understand you."

              "I’m a psychic. I am used to people not understanding me…" Shawn saw Gus and Henry sneaking towards Juliet. Aaron heard their footfalls and started to turn.

              "OH! Ow! It burns!" Shawn exclaimed while shutting his eyes, putting one hand to his head and using the other to grope blindly in front of him. Aaron’s attention immediately shifted back to him as he fell to his knees in theatrics. "I can see it now! Your house burned down…you barely made it out alive!" Shawn pointed at Aaron, "All your family was gone! It would have driven anyone crazy."

              "You can’t know that!" Aaron’s eyes widened. "How do you know that!?"

              Shaking his head Shawn continued, "You lost almost everything and had to start over. You had some medical background so you decided to apply for a job at a hospital, where you could get as much blood as you needed and could work nights."

              "Shut up." Aaron growled low and pointed the knife at Shawn. He obviously didn’t want to hear about his past or his lost family, but Shawn had to keep it going. His father and Gus were almost to Juliet.

              "Everything went okay until you started to turn people from the hospitals. Your insane mind convinced you that you were helping them, even saving them. Then they had no one to guide them. They went crazy from bloodlust and started getting killed by people like Mick; sane vampires needing to hide their secret!" Looking up at Aaron, Shawn sneered, "So you finally picked me to latch onto. You figured if you could save me you wouldn’t be a complete failure!"

              Gus and Henry had finished dragging Juliet away and just needed to get to Carlton, who was right behind Aaron and next to the staked Mick. They needed just a little longer and everyone would be out of the way.

              Shawn already knew he had the older vampire on the edge, and just needed to tip him over… "But you are a failure Aaron, in the biggest sense of the word. No one loves you, or needs you. I sure as hell don’t."

              Aaron started to advance on Shawn. "I should have let you die at the hospital you ungrateful child. I can find more! There are always more!” The fatherly look was completely gone, replaced by a seething rage. “I won’t stop either. No one can stop me!" Aaron shouted, his voice echoing off the walls of the warehouse.

              "Nice evil genius speech. I wish I could have recorded it, really─" Shawn was pushed backwards into a wall before he could finish by the impact of Aaron’s sudden charge. Pain erupted in his gut and spread out with tendrils of agony. Looking down he saw the knife was embedded into his stomach. It hurt worse than the stake had. Gasping, Shawn did his best to keep his legs under him.

              Aaron looked down at the knife curiously and watched the pained expression on Shawn’s face. "Well. It looks like our dear Mick had this knife made of silver. I don’t suppose he told you that silver was poison to us did he?" Aaron twisted the knife, causing a primal scream of pain to erupt from Shawn’s throat. “I could have taught you so much Shawn, but you had to ruin it.”

              “I don’t do well with father figures─ GAAAH!!!” Shawn felt the knife sink deeper, and the only thing holding him up now was Aaron’s steely grip.

              Then, the mad vampire whispered in his ear, "I am going to turn your detective friend you know. Then I’ll have him drain your girl. I might just make you watch…or can you already see it _psychic_?"

              Shawn gritted his teeth and opened his eyes. "The only thing can I see is my best friend about to stake you in the back." A confused look came over Aaron’s face an instant before it froze in place as Gus hit him from behind with the stake Mick had given him.

              "Humans can’t fight vampires my ass!" Gus panted as Aaron fell backwards and Shawn slid jelly legged to the floor. Gus did a little dance of victory before seeing to his friend. “Oh my God, Shawn don’t pull it out! We have to get you to a hospital.”

              Shawn grabbed the end of the knife and yanked it out with one quick movement. "Gahh!" Shawn screamed as the silver blade exited and panted as the agony in his gut subsided. “Vampire... remember?”

              “Oh, right. I knew that.” Gus helped Shawn carefully to his feet, and the injured psychic looked around the room at the damage, holding his stomach with one hand and the knife in the other. He looked for Mick and saw his dad pulling the stake out of him.

              Aaron was still able to move his arms a bit and he grabbed at Gus’ feet. Gus yelped and stepped back. "Shawn, I saved your life." Aaron pleaded.

              Coldness came across Shawn’s features. The man on the ground had almost taken everything from him; his life, his friends, his Jules. There was no way that he was letting Aaron get away with it. He slowly raised the knife to cut off Aaron’s head.

              "Shawn!" Shawn’s eyes flicked to his friend who had his hands out and a terrified expression. "Put it down Shawn, it’s over. C’mon, you can let Mick handle it from here." Gus put his hand over the one with the knife and helped him bring it down to rest at his side. “It’ll be okay.”

              Nodding, Shawn’s features changed back to normal and he slowly let out a breath, moving over to where Henry had Mick sitting and recovering against a wall next to Carlton. They had been afraid to touch him in case he had any broken bones. So far all they could see was some blood pooling around his head.

              Juliet came running from around the corner, probably because the sounds of fighting died off. She stopped and stared in shock at the scene and then spotted Shawn.

              "Hey beautiful." Shawn greeted. He saw she had her wrist gripped tightly against her body. "You’re hurt?"

              "Broken wrist.” Juliet moved to his side, noticing the amount of blood around his torso. “Shawn…”

              “I’m fine. Worry about Lassie, not me.”

              Mick had pushed himself closer to Carlton’s body, his eyes catching the blood on the ground for only a second before moving back to the injured man. He put two fingers on his neck, checking his pulse. He tested it for ten seconds and shook his head. Turning to the group he sighed. "His pulse is getting weaker. I think he is dying."

              Juliet gasped and kneeled by her partner. "No, Carlton! Wake up Carlton!"

              "There isn’t a lot of blood here." Henry observed, puzzled. "How can he be dying?"

              Noticing a bulge in one of Carlton’s sleeves Shawn pulled it up and saw a wrapped bandage on the crook of his arm. His stomach turned in realization and looked at Juliet. "Jules, how much blood did Lassie give me at the hospital?"

              "The nurse made him stop at three pints. He was told to rest but you know how Carlton is." Juliet rested her hands on Carlton's chest, keeping track of his heartbeat.

              Looking desperately at Mick, Shawn asked, "How long does he have? Will an ambulance make it?"

              "He doesn’t have long." Seeing the guilt on Shawn’s face Mick continued. "There is no way we could have known. It isn’t your fault Shawn."

              Shawn looked down at Carlton. The man had given all he could to save him at the hospital. Making a decision, he grabbed Gus and Henry, bringing them for a side conference. "Guys, I need you to take Juliet out to the car."

              Henry instantly realized what his son planned to do. "Shawn no! You can’t─"

              "He saved me at the hospital.” Shawn said quickly, his eyes pleaded with his dad to understand. “The least I could do is return the favor, and I don’t want Jules to see this."

              Understanding, Gus nodded and headed over to help Juliet to her feet. "No!" Juliet protested. "I want to stay with him! He’s my partner!"

              "Juliet, they are doing what they can to help but you have to get off the cold floor and sit somewhere comfortable." Gus ushered her towards the door.

              "What about Shawn? He’s bleeding!" She looked at Shawn who gave her a feeble smile.

              "I’ll be fine Jules, vampire constitution and all. We’ll talk later okay?" Juliet nodded and finally allowed Gus to lead her out.

              Henry put his hand on Shawn’s shoulder before following them. “I hope you know what you’re getting yourself into.” He didn’t say anything else. Shawn knew he didn’t need to.

              Shawn watched his dad leave and walked over to where Mick was kneeling. "You had to have heard that." Shawn pointed out.

              "Sure did. Are you absolutely sure you want to do this? There is no going back for him." Mick explained.

              "I’ve known this man for over six years. He’s a walking prick, but his heart is in the right place." Carlton was not his most favorite person in the world, but he had been a friend, as much as it pained Shawn to admit it even to himself.

              As if trying to make him reconsider, Mick asked, "What about his loved ones? Do you know how they will take it?"

              Giving Mick an incredulous look he stated, "His girlfriend is in jail for stealing blood from a blood bank. I am sure it isn’t going to be much of a stretch for her."

              "Okay, point taken.” Mick mumbled, beaten. “The next thing is probably going to be hard for you."

              "Just walk me through this. It isn’t like I am an expert or anything." Shawn smirked, even though his heart was beating a million miles an hour. “I’ll do whatever it takes.”

              "Well, you need blood for this and he needs a bit more taken so he will turn quicker." The detective looked back and forth between them.

              Shawn knew what Mick was asking. He had to ‘drink’ from Carlton. “No way! Nope, not happening." Shawn shook his head vigorously.

              "Do you want him to die?” Mick looked at him accusingly. “I thought he was your friend."

              It was as if he’d been slapped in the face. One of the things Shawn cared about most was his friends and this man did save his life on more than one occasion. Ashamed, Shawn nodded his head. "Man…does it have to be the neck? It seems a bit intimate if you know what I mean."

              Mick handed him Carlton’s wrist with a wry smile. "This will work just fine."

              Shawn, still working up the nerve, stared at the bared wrist. "Um, just a thought. I am not going to get all mushy or anything towards him right? That would just be weird." Shawn couldn’t imagine himself acting like Aaron did towards the detective.

              Mick shook his head, "No, that _is_ a bit extreme, even for us. You’re likely be more protective of him but your relationship won’t change."

              Shawn remembered something he overheard Aaron say, "Will I be able to tell if he is in trouble or something? Aaron mentioned that he knew I wasn’t dead."

              "I’ve never heard of that. He could have been just calling my bluff, but Josef would be the one to ask.” Feeling Carlton’s pulse, Mick sighed, “You have to do it now, Shawn. I’m sorry I don’t have more time to explain this but it has to be your choice."

              Rubbing his lip, Shawn closed his eyes and forced his teeth to grow once more. "He can never know it was me Mick. He wouldn’t be able to take it. We have to tell him it was Aaron."

              Mick nodded he understood. "I’ll tell you when to stop."

              Taking a deep breath, Shawn bit down hard on Carlton's wrist, easily breaking the skin with his sharp fangs.


	13. All Dogs go to Heaven, Except Lassie

**Chapter 13- "All Dogs Go To Heaven, Except Lassie"**

              A slow rush of blood passed Shawn's lips. He didn’t know how to describe it, but it felt as natural as breathing. However, the satisfaction he should have felt by feeding was almost completely drowned out by who he was feeding from. He did notice the taste different than the bagged blood. It was almost like comparing eating a day old burrito and one of his dad’s grilled steaks.

              After only half a minute he could feel the flow of blood already slowing, and could hear Carlton’s breathing become shallower. A few seconds later Mick told him to stop. “Alright Shawn, let go.”

              Suddenly, Shawn didn’t want to let go. His body started craving more. He _needed_ more…

              “ _Shawn._ ” Mick stressed.

              Finally tearing himself away, Shawn quickly bit his own arm and shoved it in Carlton’s mouth. Mick gave him a surprised look. "I’ve seen ‘Interview with a Vampire.’" He shrugged before screaming out as Carlton latched on.

              It hurt more than Shawn thought it would, and was a lot scarier. He almost yanked his arm away in surprise but Mick grabbed it and held it in place. Carlton’s blue eyes had opened but Shawn could tell he wasn’t really seeing anything. "Dude if he chews my arm off you are so donating yours as a replacement!" Shawn winced as Carlton bit down harder.

              "This was your idea." Mick shrugged, then asked, "Why don't you want to let him know you saved his life? At the hospital he seemed to have some respect for you."

              Shawn gave a musing smile, "I would say he’s my Yang if I didn't already know someone by that name that’s crazy as a loon and tried to blow up my mom.” Mick raised an eyebrow and Shawn snorted in mirth at the expression. “That is as close as I can explain it. We will never see eye to eye, the fact that he is way too tall has nothing to do with it, but I think we respect each other, ya know? The fact is, I don't want him to feel like he owes me anything."

              The other vampire nodded, seeming to understand. He happened to glance down and could see Shawn was still holding his right arm close to him. Mick's smile vanished and he moved the arm out of the way and looked closer at Shawn’s midsection, which was still bleeding slightly. "What happened to your stomach?"

              Shawn looked away from Carlton and down at the hole in Mick's shirt and the spreading blood stain. "Sorry about your shirt, Aaron skewered me with your knife." Shawn motioned with his head next to him where he had dropped it. "Not the best feeling in the world but I'll heal right?"

              "Why didn't you say anything!?" Mick uncharacteristically shouted.

              "Dude! You just got staked, you are already healed what is the big... OW... deal?" Carlton had adjusted his grip causing Shawn to wince in pain again.

              "That knife is silver, it messes with our healing!" Mick was kicking himself for not seeing the wound earlier. Carlton was half turned and Shawn was not going to be able to provide enough blood to turn him quickly with his injury.

              "So, what do we do? Can I get him off my arm now?" Shawn's vision was starting to blur. He shook his head to clear it but it wasn't helping. "Mick, something’s wrong..."

              Mick stood up quickly. "Stay put! I am going to run and get the blood from my car. Don't stop feeding him." He took off at a high rate of speed out the back door.

              Grumbling, Shawn looked back to Carlton. He was no longer trying to rip his arm off but was still latched on tight. The pain in his gut increased and he fell over backwards with a loud groan, his arm ripping from Carlton's grasp.  
 

\------------------------------------------------------------

           "Oh man." Mick exclaimed as three worried sets of eyes followed his approach. He had not expected everyone to be at his car and didn’t even try to hide his annoyance. "What are you guys doing here?"

              "Carlton has the keys for his car. You left yours open and Juliet needed to sit down." Gus explained.

              "What is going on, around here? Are Shawn and Carlton okay?" Juliet seemed agitated. It looked like Henry and Gus had explained just enough to make the junior detective upset.

              "Uh yeah, they’re fine. I just stopped by to grab something." Mick ducked around to his trunk and opened it to get to the blood bags. He needed one himself but he only had three and he would need to give Shawn a couple and somehow convince Carlton to have one when he woke up. The speed of the turn usually depended on how close to death someone was and how much blood they’d ingested. Apparently Shawn had not been all that close because it had taken him over a day to wake up after he was made a vampire. With any luck Carlton would wake up fairly quickly.

              Mick had to hurry. Tucking them into his jacket pockets he turned to find Henry watching him with a scowl. "Something's up." Henry whispered angrily at Mick. "Tell me now."

              "Your son was stabbed with a silver knife. I didn't realize it before he started to turn Carlton." Mick whispered back. "It is hard on the sire in the best of times to turn someone, and he needs blood now to be able to finish." He closed his trunk and turned towards the group. "Shawn doesn't want Carlton to know. He doesn't think he would be able to live with that kind of debt, especially from Shawn."

              "He's right, there is no way Lassiter would ever get over being saved by Shawn." Gus agreed.

              "For now we have to blame it on Aaron, it is the only way to hide it." Mick sighed. "I am going to get back. When Carlton wakes up he is going to be pretty disoriented and from what I can tell we’re going to have some fast talking to get him to believe us."

              Everyone jumped when all of a sudden Juliet's radio started to crackle and a voice came through, _"This is Detective Carlton Lassiter! Officer down 10-52! I found Shawn Spencer unresponsive and injured!"_ Carlton named off the address before saying the mandatory, _"Over."_

              All three of the humans cast accusatory stares aimed at him. Mick closed his eyes in an effort to stay calm, "Who all was able to hear that?"

              "Everyone in the station. Probably Chief Vick too if she’s listening to her scanner." Juliet grabbed her radio out and ran towards the warehouse, holding her injured arm close, with Gus and Henry on her heels. Mick passed them up a few seconds later running full speed wondering what happened to Shawn if Carlton, who was supposed to still be unconscious, was calling for help.

\--------------------------------------------------------

**Three Minutes earlier:**

              Carlton woke with a start, gasping for breath. His pounded like a bad hangover and he had a weird taste in his mouth. Sitting up with his hand to his head he looked around. The man that had attacked him was laying on the ground with something sticking out of his chest, again. "Good riddance." Carlton mumbled. He wiped his mouth and it came back bloody.

              "I must have bit my lip or tongue when I hit the wall." Carlton rationalized. Eyes widening he remembered Juliet, she was hurt but he didn't see her in the warehouse.

              Looking down at his hands they were covered in blood. In fact, he was sitting in a puddle of blood. Looking around him in disbelief he noticed feet with blood soaked Nikes attached to them. He turned around and saw Shawn on his back not moving with a gaping stomach wound and bloody hands.

              "Spencer! What the hell!?" Rising to his knees and putting pressure on the wound he noticed his radio was out of reach. "Damn it! Where is O'Hara!" Deciding he couldn't wait with Shawn in this condition, he chanced a grab at his radio, moving back to Shawn once he had it.

              "This is Detective Carlton Lassiter! Officer down 10-52! I found Shawn Spencer unresponsive and injured! Over!" If that didn't bring everyone at the station running he didn't know what would. For being such an annoyance people seemed to really like Shawn. "Why do I always have to save you when you do something stupid Spencer?" He cursed at him, knowing Shawn probably couldn’t hear him.

              Carlton glanced around and tried to piece together what happened. The last thing he remembered was the man on the ground had been shot at least six times by his gun with no effect. Sometime in between that and waking up, Shawn had tried to stage some sort of half assed rescue and ended up being hurt, as usual. At least he was able to take out the perp first. A voice crackled through the static on his radio. It was Juliet. _"Carlton, stay put. Mick will be there in a second. Don't panic!"_

              Before he could respond Mick rushed in the door and slid to a kneeling stop right next to Shawn, seemingly oblivious to the blood now soaking into his pants. Carlton was still staunching the blood flow from Shawn's wound. "Carlton, how long have you been awake?"

              "Less than two minutes." Carlton gave Mick a puzzled look, "What in. _The_ hell. Is going on?"

              "Listen, some stuff went down and what I’m going to do will seem really weird, but I need you to trust me." Mick took out one of the blood bags, ripped it open with his teeth and started feeding it down Shawn's mouth.

              Carlton backed up in disbelieving horror. "What in God's name are you doing St. John?" He got his answer when Shawn's white eyes shot open and grabbed the blood bag out of Mick's hand. Carlton stared open mouthed as Shawn chugged the blood and collapsed back on the ground breathing heavily. Hearing the door open, Carlton and Mick saw Juliet, Gus and Henry enter the front warehouse door.

              Carlton instinctively grabbed his gun which was only a couple feet away and reloaded it with the clips from his belt. He pointed it at Mick. "Step away from Spencer!"

              "Carlton don’t!" Juliet shouted. "He’s trying to help!"

              "O’Hara are you on drugs!?" Carlton looked disbelievingly at his partner. "He’s force feeding him blood!"

              Henry and Gus rushed to Shawn’s side. "I’m─" he gasped and nodded, "I’m okay."

              Mick handed Shawn a second bag and nodded at him. Shawn took it, realizing he should keep feeding. Mick then got up and walked towards Carlton with his arms up. "I told you to trust me. No one is going to hurt anyone here. It has just been a very complicated day and we all would like to get Juliet and Shawn some help. We just need you to put the gun down and come with us."

              Shawn, Carlton and Mick suddenly reacted to a sound only they could hear. It was sirens. If police walked in on the scene now it would be disastrous. Vampires required secrecy and with a staked rogue, an injured Shawn, and Carlton being ignorant of what he was the secret was about to be blown wide open.

              "Detective O’Hara…Juliet, I could use some help here." Mick begged.

              Carlton, gun still raised at Mick, watched Juliet as approached. "Carlton please, it’s okay."

              The pleading in Juliet’s voice cut through his defenses faster than if she would have shouted. With a grumble he lowered his weapon to his side. "What ten kinds of crazy is going on here O’Hara? What is wrong with Spencer’s face?"

              "That hurts Lassie." Shawn groaned as he tried to raise himself off the floor.

              "Uh, Shawn." Gus helped his friend up then pointed to Shawn’s eyes and teeth.

              "Oh, duh." Shawn exclaimed as he licked his fangs and looked at Carlton. "Mick, dude, I think you’re just going to have to show him. We don’t have much time."

              "Show me what? That someone else has bought into your freak show delusions? Guster I can believe, but I don’t know how you got O’Hara and your father in on this." Carlton holstered his gun and crossed his arms, giving Mick a look that clearly said, 'I’m waiting.'

              Wasting no time, Mick’s eyes turned milky and his fangs grew. He let out a screechy hiss for effect.

              "SWEET JESUS!" Grabbing for his gun, Carlton pulled it and shot causing everyone around him to flinch. Gus and Shawn both threw up their hands to cover their faces with similar squeaks of surprise.

              Mick had been hit in the shoulder. A look of horror was plastered on Carlton’s face as Mick literally reached in and pulled out the bullet. His wound, visible from the bullet hole in his shirt, was healing almost instantly.

              "Detective, I can tell you appreciate bluntness so here it goes." Mick walked up to Carlton and put the bullet in his hand. "That man over there turned Shawn into a vampire." Mick pointed and Carlton looked at Aaron lying on the ground.

              "True story!" Shawn admitted before being elbowed by Gus.

              "While you were knocked out, he did the same to you." Mick let the truth of the words sink in.

              "No…" Carlton whispered before looking to Juliet for confirmation. His partner had always been there to watch his back. They had had some spats before, competing over whom had a higher score on the detective exam, lying to him about dating Shawn, but he never once doubted that she had his best interests in mind. So when Carlton saw her sad but determined nod he knew it was true. "How is this even possible?"

              "I've been asking myself the same thing all day Lassie." Shawn shook his head in similar disbelief, and sympathy for Carlton.

              "What the hell did you get me into Spencer?"

\------------------------------

              The sirens were almost to the warehouse. Shawn looked around at the blood and mess in the room, knowing he had to think quickly to figure out a way out of this mess. Sure enough, he got an idea. "Mick! You need to grab Aaron before the cops get here and stuff him in your car." This earned an 'excuse me?' look from Mick. Ignoring it, Shawn continued, "Lassie, go with Mick. I'll say you are chasing Aaron after he stabbed me and you shot him. That will give you some more time to talk to Mick about stuff. Jules..." Shawn paused. Seeing Juliet standing there, so close, made him want to hold her and never let go. He had not had the chance to see how she still felt about him and he really hoped she still loved him. It didn't take a genius to tell she was still in shock over what was happening but her police training had kicked in and she had a stoic calm about her that made it hard for him to read her emotions. He really needed to talk to her later, but for now he had to send her away. "Jules, if your wrist doesn’t hurt too much, go with them. Lassie needs a buddy to keep him calm right now."

              "But Shawn−" Juliet protested before looking at her partner. He looked like he had not changed at all. Still the lanky, awkward man she had known for years that she trusted with her life on a daily basis. She realized Shawn was right and finally nodded her agreement.

              Gus, giving Shawn a puzzled look asked, "But what about you, Shawn? Lassiter made it pretty clear that you were down for the count when he called out over the radio. How are you going to explain that?"

              "You and dad will stay with me while the paramedic’s take me to the hospital. If I'm not here it'll raise too many questions for Lassie. I will have to pretend to be out of it." He looked at his dad and Gus giving them a lopsided grin. "You need to treat me like a crazy person for a while, think you can manage?"

              Henry huffed through his nose retorted, "I don’t think that will be a problem son."

              The sirens stopped and footsteps approached. Shawn mouthed, _GO!_ and everyone played their part. Mick grabbed his knife then ran over and grabbed Aaron, hauling him over his shoulder. He then ushered Juliet and Carlton out the back door. Shawn let himself sink to the floor and go limp just as police burst through the front of the warehouse.

\--------------------------------------------

              While avoiding the advancing officers, Juliet and Carlton followed Mick the block to his car and watched him clean the items out of his trunk. He then unceremoniously, and none to gently, dumped a groaning Aaron into it before slamming the door. "Okay, that should hold him."

              Carlton looked at the locked trunk. "What are you going to do with him?"

              "We have our own laws when it comes to rogues. He probably caused the death of dozens of people, not including the others he turned who had to be destroyed because they went feral." Mick looked at Carlton and noticed him staring to get antsy. New sounds, sights and smells were probably assaulting him from all angles but he looked like he was trying to remain calm. "Juliet, could you give us one second?" Mick asked gesturing at his open car door.

              Nodding, Juliet stepped into the back seat closed the door. Turning to Carlton, Mick held out the last bag of blood. Carlton looked at it like it was diseased. "I don’t want it."

              "Detective, listen. Vampires don’t have to go around hurting people. Some of us, when volunteers are not available or wanted, exist on bags of blood." He saw Carlton’s eyes turn towards Juliet in the car. "You don’t have to worry about hurting her. Shawn told me you were a good guy."

              "Spencer said that?" Carlton looked at Mick skeptically.

              "I believe the word 'prick' was used in the same sentence."

              Carlton snorted, "That sounds more like him." He paused before adding, "Will he be okay?" He paused, "Not that _I_ care but O'Hara−"

              "We will have to go see him later, but right now I need you to take care of yourself. If you're going to need to go to the station to make a statement you're going to be full while doing it." He pushed the blood closer to Carlton.

              "What on God’s green earth do I do?"

              "Trust your instincts." Mick said in a matter of fact voice before taking the cap off the bag and putting it under Carlton’s nose. Carlton was already almost covered in blood at this point but it was vampire blood. Human blood was a whole different story and Carlton’s reaction to it was almost instantaneous.

              "What’s happening?" Carlton panicked as fangs peeked from his mouth and his complexion paled to almost translucent. His eyes focused on the bag in Mick’s hand. He took a few deep breaths through his nose as if trying to calm down and closed his eyes. A second later he jerked in surprise. "I saw a girl... she had brown hair. What the hell was that?"

              Mick put the blood bag in Carlton’s hand as the detective looked at him questioningly. A vampire’s senses were so tuned that they were able to literally smell the past. Mick used this skill a lot in his line of work. "Your senses have increased more than you know. You will sometimes get flashes of people or things that have happened if you concentrate enough when you sniff." Mick made a mental note to make sure Shawn knew some of this stuff too.

              Looking at the blood bag in his hand Carlton asked, "So, I just drink this right?" Mick nodded. "Good lord what am I about to do…" Scrunching his face Carlton put the nozzle of the bag to his lips and tipped his head back drinking the blood. He brought the bag down and stared at it for a second.

              Mick watched his reaction. "What do you think now?" He asked.

              "It needs three creams and four sugars…." Carlton replied before finishing the rest of the bag.

\-----------------------------------------------

              Even though it was his decision to come back to the hospital, Shawn was not happy. With his erratic behavior at the police station, he was considered to be a danger to others so he was put in an isolation room. His stomach injury had healed somewhat by the time they got to the hospital but it was still bleeding slightly. They had taped some gauze around it before locking his arms and legs down in straps. "C’mon really!?" Shawn shouted but did not struggle as they restrained him.

              "At least the sun won’t get to him in there." Gus had pointed out to Henry as they watched Shawn get 'settled in.' It was true enough, apparently isolation also meant no windows.

              The small luxury did nothing to help Shawn's mood any. Once the doctor's left he put on his best pout and stared at the ceiling grumpily. Henry put a comforting hand on Shawn's shoulder.

              "What you did for Lassiter, it was good, kid."

              "Yeah, lets hope they even let me out of here after what happened." Shawn took in the bags under both men's eyes and sighed. "You don't have to stay here with me. Get some sleep or something. It has to be almost 4am."

              In the end, Gus and Henry agreed to sleep, but they promised if he needed anything they would be right outside. It was enough of a compromise for the exhausted Shawn.

\--------------------------------------------

              Chief Karen Vick had showed up about 6am. Both Henry and Gus were sleeping in the waiting area. The Chief smiled slightly, but let the men sleep. She wanted a private chat with Shawn, and knew with either his father or best friend awake, she wouldn't get it.

              As Karen approached Shawn's room, she could see he was awake and staring at the ceiling. Then his nose seemed to twitch and he immediately looked in her direction. Knowing her cover was blown she motioned to the nurse to let her in.

              "Mr. Spencer." She greeted formally.

              "Chief!" Shawn said enthusiastically. "Did you come to visit me? I am touched."

              Karen closed her eyes and tried to speak calmly. Shawn always seemed to elicit strong emotions in her, whether it be pride in his abilities when he solved an unsolvable case, or frustration and anger when he royally screwed up or his antics got out of control. Like today.

              "Shawn," She said in a calmer voice. "How are you feeling?"

              Shawn shrugged. "I’m feeling better, the knife to the gut was a real problem but other than that I feel like a new man."

              Karen pulled up a chair and sat down, keeping her stern features in place. "I took Lassiter, O’Hara, and St. John’s statements." She waved the papers that were in her hand. "They all say the same story; You were kidnapped and escaped with another hostage. You then returned to the station and found out St. John may have ties to your kidnapper. Fearing the worst you drew him away from people you thought he was going to hurt."

              She saw surprise in Shawn's eyes, but couldn't place the reason, so she continued.

              "You then had an altercation with St. John before realizing he was trying to find and stop your kidnapper, and was not with him. You realized O’Hara and Lassiter may be in trouble so you headed back to the warehouse and found Lassiter knocked out and O’Hara tied up. O’Hara said you fought the kidnapper as St. John was freeing her."

              "That's when I got sliced up." Shawn gestured to his midsection. Karen grimaced at the amount of blood on the bandages, but he didn't seem to be minding it very much, so she figured it had luckily been a flesh wound.

              "After St. John got O’Hara out but before coming back in, Carlton woke to find you bleeding and called in back up and an ambulance before shooting at the kidnapper and chasing him down. Lassiter said he lost him in the dark." Karen put down her papers and stared at Shawn, who began to squirm under her gaze. "What I don’t understand Mr. Spencer, is how were your father and Mr. Guster there when you were found?"

              There was barely a pause before Shawn explained, "They were out looking for me after I ran off. They heard Lassie’s call over the police radio and were closer than the officers were I guess."

              Karen pursed her lips and nodded, the explanation was technically feasible, but she had one more thing to ask Shawn. "Officer McNab told me what he saw at the police station, and when I visited Dr. Strode in his hospital room to see how he was doing this morning, he told me about the conversation you had before your kidnapping." She paused taking another deep breath. "I need to know something, and I need an honest answer from you. Do you really think that you're a vampire?"

              "You know what chief, my head was messed up from being sick and I don’t remember much about what happened in the police station−" Shawn started making an excuse but was stopped when Karen put up her hand to silence him.

              "Shawn, please. Do you, or do you not think that you are a vampire?"

              Looking her directly in the eyes, Shawn finally gave Karen the truthful answer she'd been hoping for. "No Chief. I do not _think_ I am a vampire."

              Karen visibly relaxed. "That is good enough for me Mr. Spencer. I _will_ have to have a formal psychiatric evaluation done on you before you are allowed to consult for us again, but other than that I believe you proved yourself to be quite the hero yesterday." A hint of a smile crossed her features and Shawn grinned back.

              "So does that mean I get to have these taken off?" He pulled on the restraints lightly.

              Karen raised an eyebrow and stood up. "Good day Mr. Spencer." She said before walking towards the door.

              "Uh, Chief…" Shawn said in disbelief as she walked away.

              "Chief Vick?" She opened the door.

              "KAREN!" Shawn cried desperately and Karen paused at the door.

              "By the way, next time you tell your story you might want to leave out the part where your father and Mr. Guster showed up after listening to the police scanner. It would be really hard for them to beat the officers there when your father’s truck was parked at the station _all night_." With that statement she closed and locked the door, leaving a stunned and humbled Shawn staring after her.


	14. The Future's So Bright

**Chapter 14- "The Future’s So Bright..."**

Shawn put his hand to his chin in a contemplative gesture. He turned his head to the side to get a different angled perspective. "Hmmmm…." Shawn put his hands out in front of him, fingers together with thumbs sticking out and looked through them as if to line something up.

              "Would you just pick it already Shawn!" Gus blurted impatiently.

              Shawn ignored his friend and continued to scrutinize the object in front of him. It was a 1970 Dodge Challenger. Granted it could use some work and Gus didn’t think Shawn could handle having a muscle car, but it was perfect. It even had tinted windows. More importantly though, it was in his budget.

              Shawn turned to the salesman. "I’ll take it. Put it in a gift bag for me and I will pick it up later."

              Confused the salesman looked at Gus and said, "Gift bag? But…"

              Gus looked at Shawn’s grin and rolled his eyes. He turned to the salesman and clarified. "What he means is he'll take it now and would like to talk about financing in your office."

              Finally someone was speaking the salesman’s language. "Oh of course! This way gentlemen." He motioned them towards the building.

              "Just one more thing!" Shawn pivoted from looking at the car to looking at the salesman.

              "Yes sir?" The salesman asked eagerly.

              Looking down at his hands Shawn says, "I …" Shawn put on his new pair of Oakley sunglasses before continuing in a gruff voice. "want it painted green."

\----------------------------------------

              Two hours later Gus and Shawn pulled had their very own company car. It was painted hot green with Psych’s logo in white on both doors. Since Henry had dropped them off at the dealership, they were able to drive it right off the lot. Shawn had never been so proud to own a vehicle.

              The first stop they made was the police station. Shawn revved the engine obnoxiously as they pulled in. Shaking his head, Gus started to get out but stopped when he realized Shawn had not moved from the driver’s seat. It had been a few days since the warehouse and Juliet had not called to talk to him. He had left her at least a dozen messages asking how her wrist was but no replies yet.

              Realizing the issue Gus put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Shawn, you got to give her some time. She’ll come around." Shawn barely nodded as he got out of the car and joined Gus walking up the SBPD steps. "Anyway, you have to get this evaluation over with so we can start taking cases again when you get back from your trip."

              Shawn snorted. It wasn't quite a 'trip.' Mick was having both him and Carlton go to LA for a week starting that night to get a more oriented in their new lives and to meet his friend Josef. It a lot of convincing to get Carlton to go but Mick stated that he had his hands full with just one new vampire, let alone two and they would both need help from someone more experienced in "babysitting."

              Shawn was at the top of the steps when he heard the shouting. _"Damn it rookie you need to watch where you are going_!" Shawn and Gus looked at each other and ran into the station. They rounded the corner to the main hallway and skidded to a stop. A rookie cop had just spilled coffee all over Carlton’s desk, and he was pissed.

              "What kind of idiot runs in a crowded area with a hot cup of coffee?" Carlton hollered angrily at the officer.

              This wasn’t good. Mick had given them specific instructions to stay as stress free as possible, so of course Carlton went to the police station and returned to work almost immediately. Shawn looked at Gus, "I will catch up to you after my appointment." He then went to run interference and save the poor rookie.

              "Hey Lassie!" Shawn jogged up to Carlton and draped an arm around his shoulders leading him away from the confrontation. "Give the kid a break it was an accident."

              Carlton closed his eyes and ground his teeth together. "You know Spencer, it's bad enough that I have to go away for a week to vampire boot camp with you, but do you have to come to the station _right now_ and give me a lecture?"

              Shawn, seeing the look on Carlton’s face, tried to cheer him up. "C’mon! This is going to be sweet hanging out with Mick! He seems like a cool guy! You two seemed to get along fine."

              Carlton could not disagree. Mick had gone out of his way to help them, even giving them the number for someone who specializes in custom freezers so they could sleep.

              "Have you talked to Jules at all?" The psychic tried to keep the desperation out of his voice, but by the look on the detective's face, it didn't work well.

              Carlton sighed. Of course he would want to know about Juliet he reasoned. "I have not really talked to her in the last couple of days since we made our statements. She seems to be avoiding me too."

              Shawn remembered what the chief said about the statements. "Oh, thanks for covering for Gus and my dad. It was pretty cool of you."

              Carton curled his lip and pointed at Shawn’s chest. "Don’t expect it again Spencer. You run into a situation like that halfcocked anymore and I will gut you myself." Carlton never wanted to go through anything like that again.

              "Well, I am just feeling the love today." Shawn deadpanned. "Anyway Lassifrass," he continued, "I decided to run an errand before I go see the department shrink."

              "What is it?" Carlton asked suspiciously.

              "Well, we don’t want to always have to count on Mick to supply us with blood, so I have decided to see if Woody would be willing to do it. Mick said most of his blood comes from a vampire coroner friend too."

              "Aaaannndd, that's my cue to leave." Gus broke away from the other two men. "I'll see you at the office."

              With a knowing smirk, Shawn watched Gus until he disappeared out the doors. He then turned to Carlton, still grinning slyly. "Do you want to come with me while I break the news to Woody?"

              Carlton frowned and opened his mouth to object but it seemed Shawn’s cheerful disposition was contagious today and he gave in. "Alright Spencer, let’s go."

              Shawn rushed ahead of him down the corridor and did a few surprisingly graceful pirouettes as they approached the coroner’s office. This got him some strange looks from a few passing officers until they realized who it was. The officers started to smile but stopped after catching Carlton’s glare. "How does he do that?" Carlton wondered.

\---------------------------------

              It was Woody’s first day back. His nose still had a large bandage and both his eyes were black and blue. By the time he got to his office the police had already cleaned up after Buzz and Shawn so Woody was fortunate enough to be able to jump right into his work.

              When Woody saw Carlton and Shawn enter the morgue alone he was a bit surprised. Usually it was with Gus, Juliet and sometimes the Chief in tow. Woody and everyone else knew the two only hung out when there was absolutely no other option. Last time was when they were drugged and had to prove Carlton didn’t shoot someone, so something was definitely up.

              "Guys," Woody hesitated. "What’s going on?"

              Shawn gave Woody a serious look, which caused the older man to hang his head like a whipped puppy. He was still feeling guilty about what happened between them at the hospital. "Woody." Shawn said as he stepped forward and opened his arms giving Woody an unexpected bear hug.

              Carlton’s eyebrows raised and Woody’s jaw dropped. "Not that I’m against hugging in general Shawn, but aren’t you supposed to be mad at me?"

              Shawn broke off the hug and grasped Woody’s shoulders. "I just wanted to say thank you dude. Your creepy obsessions saved both my life and Buzz’s."

              Looking to Carlton for help, Woody saw him only shrug in confusion. Seeing Shawn’s grin, Woody returned it and awkwardly said, "Yeah… I don’t know what you're talking about."

              "The bags of blood you ordered." Shawn explained. "They saved me and I just wanted to thank you."

              Woody heard what had happened with that and became instantly concerned for Shawn’s mental state. "Shawn, don’t you have your psychiatric evaluation today? You might not want to mention that part."

              "Strode we need a favor." Carlton interrupted.

              Looking angrily at Carlton for messing up his reveal Shawn grumbled. "Really Lassie?!"

              Woody confused but eager replied, "Yeah, anything. What can I do?"

              Having lost the excitement of the moment, Shawn decided to give this one to Carlton and he motioned for him to go ahead. "We need to know if you are able to get more blood if need be."

              Cocking his head to one side, Woody thought about it for a second and said, "You know... I used to date someone in the hemotology department in the hospital when my wife and I were on a break. She understood when I broke it off, but she still can't get enough of me you know what I'm sayin'." Woody elbowed Shawn suggestively. "She might be able to help out, but why do you need blood?"

              "It’s because… uh…" Carlton had expected Shawn to do this part but as he looked over and saw Shawn sitting on the counter giving a slow and smug smile, he knew he had been set up. With one last glare in Shawn’s direction Carlton turned back to a waiting Woody.

              "It’s because we're vampires okay!" Carlton snapped.

              Woody looked at Shawn and saw him smiling. Thinking this was a joke he shook his finger at Carlton. "Good one guys! You got me!" He chuckled. "Did you lose a bet with Shawn, detective? I didn't realize you had a sense of humor."

              Woody’s chuckling stopped and his eyes widened as Carlton slammed his hand on the metal exam table. His teeth grew, his eyes changed and his complexion went pale. He growled at the frightened coroner. "Strode you are about two seconds from being a body on this table yourself!"

              Woody, terrified, backed into a tray knocking a few surgical tools to the ground.

              From his perch on the counter Shawn grinned. "Best… reveal… ever!" he exclaimed before hopping down. Shawn patted Carlton on the back. "Okay buddy, tone it down a notch. You are scaring the poor man! It got this."

              Pursing his lips and turning away, Carlton mumbled, "Fine."

              "Sorry about that Woods but we had to get you to believe us." Shawn apologized.

              "What happened?" The fear in his voice made Shawn feel a little bad but it was expected given the circumstances.

              Shawn pointed at Woody’s injured head. "The guy that broke your face and kidnapped me… he was a vampire. That is how he hit you so hard. How is your face by the way?"

              His face hurt like hell, but what Shawn said gave him pause. "Wait, you're saying the reason I was hit across the room was because it was a super strong vampire?"

              "Yes..." Shawn trailed off, as if wondering where Woody was going with this.

              "So it _wasn’t_ because I'm a weak old man who can’t take a hit?"

              Shawn nodded, getting it now. Woody’s pride was injured worse than his face was. "Yeah Woods! You took that hit like a man! You got cheap-shotted by a vampire and lived to tell the tale!"

              That statement made Woody’s day. Getting back to the matter at hand Woody clarified, "So, you guys are going to need me to supply you with blood? Doesn’t that make me your minion?"

              "You look way too happy at that prospect Strode." Carlton stated. "No minions! We will pay you. Just make sure you set it up so we have a good supply to start out."

              Looking a bit disappointed at not being considered a minion, Woody nodded. "I can see how much it would cost and maybe when I get a fresh corpse I could get you some blood myself. The bodies need to be drained anyway." Carlton almost turned green in disgust at the concept of feeding from corpses. Woody gave him a creepy smile.

              Revenge was sweet.

              Shawn glanced at his watch. "Oh man! I’m late for my appointment!" he groaned. "See you tonight Lassie, be here for pick up." Shawn went to run out of the doors and stopped. Turning around to point at Woody. "You’ll always be my minion buddy!" he quipped and ran down the hall.

              Carlton turned to follow him before remembering something he had to tell the coroner as well. "If you tell anyone about this Strode I will personally tell the Chief about the time you took some extra pictures of that murdered model and posted them online."

              Woody’s mouth formed a small O of surprise. Recovering from the surprise that the detective knew about that he shouted, "That was for medical research!" as Carlton walked away.

\--------------------------------------------------- 

              Juliet sat at her desk looking over files to keep her mind off the events of the week. It was hard for her to write due to the cast on her right hand so that Chief was having her sort and alphabetize forms. She looked up from her repetitive task and noticed Carlton come up the stairs from the sub-basement. He didn’t seem any different. It was hard to not instinctively act comfortable around him but other than a couple questions about work they had not talked and it surprised her how much that hurt.

              Then there was Shawn. He had to have called her twenty times in the last day alone. She eventually had to shut off her phone. Juliet sighed and laid her head on the desk. She knew what happened was not his fault but it was hard to process. The fact that vampires really existed would have been a lot to deal with, but the fact that the two most important men in her life had been turned into one was too much for her to take right now. That is why she was avoiding her boyfriend she realized.

              Juliet didn’t notice how lost in thought she was until she looked at the clock and it said that it was after noon. She leaned back in her chair, deciding to take her lunch break when she saw Shawn emerge from one of the offices. He was followed by Doug Devette the long time department psychologist. They shook hands and Doug went back in his office. Henry had tried to get him to do an intervention for Shawn once but it had backfired badly.

              Shawn stood for a moment with his hands in his pockets before picking up on a familiar scent. Looking to his left he saw Juliet staring at him. Pouting, Shawn approached her desk. "Hey Jules."

              Juliet tried to look busy but Shawn noticed a coffee dribble on the top paper of her pile, then he noticed the coffee in her cup was completely gone. He deduced she was just stalling so she wouldn’t have to talk to him, those papers had not been touched in a while.

              "I got a car today." Shawn blurted out hoping to get some reaction out of her.

              "Oh," Juliet exclaimed trying to sound up beat. "That is nice."

              Disappointed, Shawn sighed. "Look Jules, can we go talk somewhere private? I have some stuff I have to tell you."

              Juliet was about to answer when Chief Vick walked up while looking down at some paperwork in her hand. "O’Hara could you come to my office…" The Chief looked up and saw Shawn was standing right there. He looked at her desperately, widening his eyes in a pleading hint that she immediately got. "…in ten minutes. I want to talk to you."

              "Sure Chief." Juliet agreed. Looking at Shawn she stood up and motioned him into the nearest interrogation room.

              Sitting down on opposite sides of the table facing each other, it was a good minute or so before Juliet spoke. "I’m sorry I've been avoiding you Shawn. I have just had a lot to deal with and I'm trying to keep things as uncomplicated as possible until I sort them out."

              "Sorry to be such a complication to your life Jules. I wasn’t expecting you to be okay with everything that happened right away but I didn’t think you would shut me out completely." Shawn complained.

              "Shawn! This is a lot to take in!" Juliet raised her voice. "I mean, what would you do if I suddenly turned into a _vampire_?"

              Shawn rubbed the back of his neck, obviously as uncomfortable about the situation as she was. "I wouldn’t shut you out. I love you too much for that."

              That one hurt. "I love you too Shawn but I can’t do this right now. I need some time." Juliet got up and started to walk away.

              Shawn opened his mouth in shock. Mick had told Shawn that this might happen but he didn’t want to believe him. Mick also told him about the time he almost lost his own girlfriend Beth. They had a fight over whether it would work between a human and vampire. Mick had said he didn’t want to give up on her and she asked him what she was wearing when they first met. He had memorized it all, down to her bare feet. When asked why he remembered that, Mick had said it was because he loved her. They had been together ever since.

              Of course, Shawn could remember completely what Juliet was wearing when they first met.

              "Jules wait!" Shawn stood and walked over to her. Putting his hand to his temple and closing his eyes he said, "I remember what you were wearing when I saw you for the first time." Juliet turned and faced him. He at least had her attention. "You were wearing a salmon colored button up blouse with white lace on the sleeves, a knee length navy blue skirt, and army green slip on heels. They were covered in cat hair at the time but that isn’t important now." He opened his eyes and saw she had tears in hers.

              "How do you remember that?" She asked her hand over her mouth.

All he had to say was what she wanted to hear, that he remembered it because he loved her, but that wouldn’t be true. He loved her with all his heart but it was not the true answer to her question.

              Rubbing his lip nervously, Shawn took a deep breath, "I know that because I remember… everything."

              Juliet gave him a puzzled look. "What does that even mean, Shawn?"

              "It means I'm not a psychic Jules." Shawn said quietly.

              Juliet walked past him and sat down in the chair, making it clear that she was willing to hear him out. Taking a shaky breath Shawn followed her and pulled the chair from around the table so he could sit directly in front of her.

              "Eidetic memory, photographic memory, whatever you want to call it that's what I have. Imagine Rain Man but without the mentally challenged part. Everything I have done, every case I solved or psychic vision I have had all started because of a misunderstanding and split second dumb decision to pretend to be a psychic."

              "Why are you telling me this now? Don’t you think I have enough to deal with?" Juliet fumed.

              "I’m telling you this because... if I am expecting you to be okay with me being a vampire, I have to expect you to be okay with me not being a real psychic." He grabbed her injured hand delicately. "I haven't been having the easiest time either, Jules." He swallowed a lump in his throat. "I've been faced with the prospect of having everyone I care about see me as a monster, not to mention the guilt I feel for doing the same thing to Lassie. Now you probably will never speak to me again." Shawn gave a huffing sigh. "I never wanted any of this to happen, but I want you to know how much I care about you by giving you the one thing you value most, the truth." He looked down at his lap. Juliet saw a tear slide down his cheek.

              With her good arm, Juliet lifted his face to meet hers. His eyes had changed to a vampiric white which was an indicator of how much stress he was under. "You are a good _man_ Shawn Spencer." Shawn let out something between a chuckle and a sob as she emphasized the word "man." "As mad as I am about you lying to me it doesn’t change that fact. You saved my life more than once and I still hold to the promise that when the time comes, I will save you right back."

              Avoiding her injured wrist Shawn pulled her into a passionate kiss. It wasn’t like their first kiss as a couple, where they almost tried to devour each other on the spot. It was deeper than that, an understanding that no matter what happened or came between them somehow things could still work out.

              After they separated and sat back down in their chairs Shawn remembered he needed to tell her about the trip. "Jules, I wanted to tell you that Mick invited Lassie and I to go to LA for a week to get some vampire training. Lassie calls it boot camp which fits I suppose."

              A sad look came over Juliet’s features. "You're going to be gone a week?"

Shawn gave a wry chuckle, "You sound like Gus. I managed to talk Mick into letting him come visit after a few days. Maybe you could come to LA and get together with Mick’s girlfriend to see some sights. I hear they have really good hot dog stands there."

              "You're a vampire and you still think about food. Why am I not surprised?" Shawn could tell Juliet’s exasperation was mostly for show. "I should get to the Chief’s office. She said she needed to talk to me. Call me?" Juliet asked as she stood. "We have a lot to talk about."

              "As long as you don’t turn your phone off this time." Shawn stood as well before giving Juliet another kiss. Their hands were the last thing to part as Juliet walked out of the room.

              Before leaving Shawn wiped his eyes and checked his reflection. All normal. Taking a deep breath he emerged into the familiar bustle of activity that was the SBPD. He needed to find Buzz and let him know he had to do a rain check on the cookies he owed him.

\------------------------------------------------ 

              "Do you have everything you need Shawn?" Gus asked. For someone with such a fantastic memory he knew Shawn often forgot the basics when it came to packing.

              "Yes mom. I made sure to pack extra underwear." Shawn replied sarcastically. It was almost 10pm and Mick would be arriving any minute. Mick was to pick up Carlton first so Shawn knew he wouldn’t be able to call shotgun.

              "You are going to call me right? Let me know every cool vampire thing you are able to do?" Shawn smiled at how excited Gus was at the prospect of having a best friend that was a vampire.

              "OH!" Shawn exclaimed. "That reminds me! I have a new ringtone for you." Turning towards Gus and pulling out his phone Shawn held it out in front of him while it played Timbuk 3’s "The Future’s so Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades." "Sweet eh?" Shawn gushed as he bounced to the tune.

              Gus smiled at the film reference for, 'My Best Friend’s a Vampire.' Until he realized something. "You having that ringtone for me doesn’t make sense Shawn. If anything that should be your ringtone on my phone!"

              Shawn scoffed at his friend’s logic. "Don’t be a dirty shag carpet Gus. You're jealous just because I thought of it first!"

              They were still arguing when they heard Mick honk the horn from outside the office. It was time for Shawn to go. Both men stood uncomfortably for a second before Gus gave Shawn a brotherly hug.

              "I promise I'll call you. But when I come back, don’t be surprised when I'm highly trained badass vampire. Whaaat!" Shawn raised his fist.

              "You know that’s right." Gus returned the bump.

              Picking up his backpack Shawn dug in it and grabbed a package before slinging it over his shoulder. "I got something for you. Kind of a present. It's even your favorite color." He tossed the soft bundle to Gus and hurried out the door to the waiting car.

              Touched by Shawn’s sentiment Gus unwrapped the package. Shawn knew his favorite color was purple and by the looks of it he had gotten him a shirt. Gus’ smile fell when he lifted it out of the wrappings. It was a freshly washed women’s purple hoodie with a sewn up slash through glittery words that said "SEXY."

              "I’M GOING TO KILL YOU SHAWN!" Gus shouted knowing his friend could probably hear him.


	15. Shawn VS. Eternity

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We have a special guest this chapter... I really do hope you know him because he is from an awesome show. :)

**Chapter 15- "Shawn vs. Eternity"**

The two hour car ride to LA was one of the longest two hours in Shawn’s life. He was bursting with excitement. Even Carlton was not in a bad mood. He was almost cheery and didn’t even yell at Shawn to sit still in the car until they were almost there.

              As they pulled up in front of Josef’s house, which was actually a skyscraper, Mick explained that Josef owned the whole building. "He lives here on the top floor, the rest of the building is his office."

              Shawn leaned forward from the back seat to see the height of the building better. He whistled, impressed. Unfortunately he whistled right by Carlton’s ear.

              "Spencer watch it!" The annoyed detective flinched away. He was still having trouble getting used to his heightened senses.

              "Sorry to ruin your good mood Lassie. What is the deal? Did you get to shoot someone today?" Shawn prodded.

              "Mind your own business Spencer." Carlton grumbled. "Why are you so impressed anyway? It is just a skyscraper."

              "I just wish when I'm Josef’s age I can afford my own incredibly large skyscraper. Heck, when I am his age buildings will probably be a thing of the past and we will all live in eco-friendly domes." Shawn fantasized.

              Hiding a laugh by clearing his throat, Mick got out of the car and the other two men followed suit. The door man recognized Mick with a friendly nod, and let them right in.

              The lobby seemed to have a very modern and metallic style. Shawn smirked when he saw Carlton’s eyes look around the room and widen at the expansive and crowded room.

              One short elevator ride later and they were at Josef’s penthouse. It was decorated in a lot of black, silvers and reds, just like the lobby. Mick, as if knowing what they were thinking, commented, "Red is his favorite color, go figure." Mick explained that everything looked rather new because a few years ago someone tried to assassinate Josef and most of the penthouse had been blown up in a failed assassination attempt.

              While taking in the décor, Shawn squinted and noticed bullet holes in some of the walls and small slivers of shattered glass wedged in the carpet. "I guess that's left over from the shootout." Shawn stated and pointed. It had sounded pretty nasty over the phone.

              Carlton noticed the bullet holes too and looked closer. "These are from 40 caliber bullet. Those are usually police or government issue."

              "Uh, Lassie." Shawn held up a small dart with a red feathered tuft on the end. "Who the heck uses a dart gun alongside a 40 cal?"

              "You guys going to come in or stare at the wall all day?" A slightly impatient voice sounded from the next room.

              Mick gave a knowing smile and ushered them into the living room. Two men were sitting on what looked like a brand new couch. They rose as the trio entered. One was thin and around 6 feet tall. He looked to be in his mid 20’s with short brown hair and a clean shaven face.

              The second man was a bit of a contrast to the first. He was about Shawn’s height and age. He had short dark brown, almost black hair and a matching mustache and beard, and his eyes were dead ringers for Carlton’s, bright blue ones. He also had a tan complexion that showed his Hispanic roots. He looked incredibly apprehensive but Shawn and Carlton could both tell that the man had some training to keep what was obviously an excitable personality in check.

              The younger man stepped forward to shake Carlton’s hand, and Mick introduced him. "This is Josef Kostan. He will be helping me train you three this week and hopefully get you comfortable with the situation you guys found yourselves in."

              Carlton was a taken aback by how young Josef looked. He realized vampires didn’t age but he never expected to be learning from someone who looked almost fifteen years younger than he did.

              The man next to Josef shook Shawn’s hand and introduced himself. "Hey there, Grimes, Morgan Grimes. You can just call me Morgan… or Grimes… which ever you like."

              "Shawn Spencer, Head Psychic of the SBPD." Shawn replied using his usual title.

              Carlton leaned forward and shook Morgan’s hand. "Carlton Lassiter, Head Detective of the Santa Barbara Police Department."

              "Wow, you guys are both cops? That is so cool. My friends and I are kind of in the law enforcement business." Morgan beamed. "We own a private security and weapons company."

              Rolling his eyes Carlton asked, "What security company is that and how much does it cost to run out of your parent’s basement?"

              Glaring at Carlton’s rudeness Shawn draped his arm around Morgan’s shoulder. "Don’t mind Lassie here. He just gets cranky when he is up past his nap time." Looking at Carlton he continued. "You know technically we’re all blood brothers now? Isn’t that kind of sweet?"

              "Do not call me your brother ever again Spencer." Carlton turned away to go join Mick and Josef, who were talking while everyone else got acquainted.

              "He seems pretty intimidating." Morgan pointed out.

              Shawn snorted. "He is a big softy once you get to know him, and get him drunk. Can we even get drunk?"

              Morgan laughed. He was relieved he felt comfortable around Shawn at least. "Lassiter will have to meet my associate Casey sometime." He told Shawn. "They will either hit it off, or kill each other." The statement made Shawn snicker.

              "So how did you have the _pleasure_ of meeting Aaron?" Shawn asked, curious about whether Morgan had been targeted specifically or like Shawn, an opportunity that was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

              "My friends and I were on a mi…" Morgan hesitated and it didn’t go unnoticed by Shawn. "We were testing out a new weapon. It misfired and shot me in the torso a few times and I had to be airlifted to the hospital in LA. While on life support this doctor walks in and changes the blood pack I was hooked up to."

              Shawn hid his recognition. He wasn't ready to divulge that tidbit, despite Morgan's own forthcoming information.

              "I was pretty out of it so I don’t remember much except burning pain after he left. I woke up and was completely healed." Morgan spread his arms out for dramatic effect. "Apparently, Josef had other instances like this and was watching for more. He realized what happened to me and got me out of the hospital."

              "So, your friends are the ones who shot up the place?" Shawn assumed.

              "Uh, yeah. They're pretty protective of each other and when I went missing it took them a bit to find me. When they did I tried to tell them what happened."

              Shawn snorted, "What did they do then?"

              "They thought I was crazy and Josef did something to me, so they decided to try and kidnap me back. It’s a long story."

              Patting Morgan on the back good naturedly, Shawn stated. "Same here dude. Long story…"

\-----------------------------------------------------------

              After Josef finished talking with Mick he turned and addressed the group. "Okay, now that we’re all introduced, I promised Mick I would hang around for a couple of days to help you guys out but I can’t stay around the whole week. I'm a very busy man as you can guess, but I will still meet with each of you individually for some questions. Do any of you have any questions to ask right now?"

              Carlton was the first to ask a question that all three of the men were wondering. "Why are you guys doing this for us? Not that I am complaining or anything, but what do you guys get out of this?"

              "Look, I'm not usually such a touchy feely guy but you, never asked for this, it was forced on you. It also seems like you're all pretty good guys. Mick can vouch for you two." Josef pointed to Carlton and Shawn, "and I can vouch for Morgan."

              Mick chimed in, "We just want to make sure you have a good head start. Being a vampire is not easy and requires a lot of secrecy for our safety. If we leave you untrained and you blow our cover it is as much our fault as it is yours."

              Carlton nodded, satisfied with the answer. He understood how dangerous it was when someone lacked the right training. Shawn’s incompetence reminded him of that all the time.

              "Any other questions?" Mick asked and noticed Morgan had raised his hand shyly.

              "Yeah, not to be the pervert of the group or anything, but I have a girlfriend. I don’t know about these guys but I would like to know if we can still… ya know." Morgan raised his eyebrows signifying the innuendo. Shawn and Carlton also listened intently for the answer.

              "Okay Mick," Josef said passing the buck. "You will field all vampiric birds and bees questions from here on out."

              "Yeah thanks." Mick looked a bit uncomfortable but he had already been expecting this question. "Guys, we are undead, not dead. Our bodies work the same as before. We breathe, our hearts beat, we can eat if we want to…" Mick paused as Shawn let out a loud, "YES!" before continuing, "… and we can make love, but we can't have children."

              As Mick’s words sunk in Carlton and Morgan looked depressed. Shawn had never really thought about having kids of his own but was a bit saddened to know it wasn’t an option anymore.

              Josef, not wanting to see grown men cry, decided to break up the moment. "Okay, if no one has any more questions I'm going to grab Shawn for a little bit while the two of you go with Mick for some training." He motioned for Shawn to follow him into his study while Mick directed the others to follow him to the gym.

\------------------------------------------------

              Josef’s office was a large room with bookshelves lining the walls and a spacious desk with a computer perched next to stacks of paperwork. Josef motioned for Shawn to sit before sitting down on the opposite side himself.

              "I like the deco but if it were me I would add more cobwebs." Shawn joked.

              Josef smiled, amused. "Mick said you were funny."

              "I’m flattered. Usually people tell me how boring I am and how little sense of humor I have… oh wait. I was channeling Lassie for a second there." Shawn deadpanned.

              " Mick also tells me that you say you’re a _psychic_." The doubt in Josef’s voice was not hidden.

              Shawn leaned back in his chair. "Why is it that vampires are the biggest group of skeptics I’ve ever met?"

              Josef considered the question for a moment and replied, "I guess it’s our nature to think that there is nothing weirder than us out there. I can truthfully say though that in over 400 years I have never met a real psychic."

              Despite his knowing smirk, Shawn was starting to get uncomfortable. He could tell that Josef was testing him. His dad had taught him a lot of things but how to pull one over on a very old vampire was not one of them so he changed the subject. "So, you said I get to ask you whatever questions I want, right?"

              "Yes, that is the deal." Josef nodded.

              "Okay, first off, for reference purposes only; how does your girlfriend deal with you being a vampire? Mine kind of avoided me and I wasn’t sure if it was a normal reaction or not."

              "What makes you think I have a girlfriend?" Josef’s eyes narrowed suspiciously.

              Shawn put his hand to his temple. He had already seen traces of a female presence around the place; a perfume bottle on one of the bookshelves, and the unmade bed Shawn caught a glimpse of on the way to the office told him she was human. There were countless other little details he was sure he wouldn’t have been able to pick up on a few days earlier. Plus Shawn noticed Josef seemed to brush off relationship questions to Mick.

              "I can also sense you have a tough time committing." Shawn opened his eyes and dropped his hand.

              Josef stared, trying to figure out how Shawn knew about his relationship. "She’s fine with it. Sometimes it takes a while to work through emotions depending on the person. If your girl hasn’t completely run off then I would say you have a pretty good chance of keeping her."

              The statement made Shawn feel better but he squirmed in his seat, feeling uncharacteristically nervous and his chest started to itch a bit. He tried to ignore it and continued with his questions. "Do we have any weaknesses besides fire and silver?"

              "If you’re talking garlic and crosses, then no we aren’t allergic to either. We can be in sunlight for short periods of time but I wouldn’t recommend it. Mick said you found that out first hand huh?" Josef said, indicating Shawn’s short but painful jaunt to the Psych office.

              Shawn nodded, "Yeah, I got the crash course."

              "Mick also said that you withstood days of starvation and sleeplessness, and still refused to feed on humans. That is either the bravest thing I have seen a new fledgling do…” Shawn grinned proudly, “or the dumbest." Josef gave Shawn a stern look.

              "What’s that supposed to mean?" Shawn scrunched his face in confusion.

              "It means that eventually, you will have to feed on a human to survive. It doesn’t mean you have to kill them, but the trick is to not let yourself get to the point where go out of control. Honestly I don’t know how you did it, but if you ever do lose control it’s SO much worse than drinking a little fresh blood." Josef then chuckled wryly. “Honestly I have this talk with Mick on a weekly basis or whenever he does something stupidly heroic on a case.”

              Shawn shifted in his chair again. He was starting to think his uncomfortableness wasn’t just Josef’s questioning, and the old vampire himself was was starting to notice something was up with him. "Shawn what’s wrong?"

              "Do vampires ever get heartburn?" Shawn asked rubbing his chest with a wince. "I didn’t think that blood was enough to cause acid reflux."

              Josef stood up suddenly and without explanation, headed towards the door. “I will be right back in a second. Sit tight.”

\--------------------------------

              Leaving the office and closing the door, Josef headed for the training room and found Mick putting Carlton and Morgan through what he had asked.

              Both men were lying on the ground with pencil thin stakes in their chests.

              Mick and Josef had discussed it earlier while everyone else was busy introducing themselves. Shawn had already been through it and Josef personally felt that every vampire should know what it felt like so they would avoid it at any cost. The stakes were smaller so it would hurt less but it still gave them a taste of how horrible it was to be completely helpless.

              Keeping his face neutral, Josef asked, "Everything going okay?"

              "Yeah." Mick replied with a serious look, "It took a bit of convincing but as soon as I said Shawn had toughed it through already Carlton here was offering to go first."

              Josef nodded and looked down at the still forms. "How long ago did you stake them?"

              Mick shrugged, "About three minutes."

              "Okay, then." Josef turned around and walked mechanically back to the office ignoring his friend’s puzzled look. When he entered, he found Shawn bent over in the chair looking like he was trying not to be sick.

              Shawn looked up. "Welcome back. You wouldn’t happen to have some Maalox or Pepto Bismol would you?"

              Josef calmly sat down and folded his hands in front of himself on the desk, doing his best to not show both the concern and excitement he was feeling. He took a deep breath before speaking, "So, tell me again how you said that you were psychic."

              To his surprise, Shawn heavily sighed in defeat. "Dude, I’m not really a psychic. I just play one at the SBPD."

              Narrowing his eyes Josef looked and listened for any sign Shawn was lying to him. His heartbeat was steady so Josef could only assume it was the truth. "How do you get away with it then? Mick believes it from what he saw, and if you’re working with the police they must believe you too."

              "I have what they call a ‘perfect recall memory.’ I can remember everything I have seen if I try hard enough." Shawn admitted.

              Shaking his head in disbelief Josef decided he would humor him. "I am totally going to have to see this for myself." Josef took out a pack of playing cards.

              Shawn sat up straighter and paid attention to the cards currently being shuffled. "Make sure to take the jokers out of the deck." Shawn requested. "They creep me out and mess with my memory." Josef could not tell whether he was joking or not, but he did as Shawn asked.

              "We’ll see how far in you can memorize the order of the cards." Josef explained. Pulling one at a time he laid each card down on top of the one before it. Shawn watched until the fifty-two cards were on the desk in a pile. "Now, let’s see how many you can get." Shawn _did_ seem smart, but Josef seriously doubted he would get far.

              "Fine, I’ll make it easy for you." Shawn stated with a sly smile. "Since the first card you showed me was on the bottom, I’ll start from the top down."

              To Josef’s complete astonishment, Shawn concentrated and named each of the cards back to him in reverse order. All fifty-two of them. When he was done he opened his eyes and saw the awestruck look on Josef’s face.

              "You could do this when you were human?" He could not believe what he’d just seen.

              Shawn cocked his head and started naming off books and their authors. Josef knew each one but held up a hand to stop him after about twenty. "What are you doing?"

              "I memorized your library while you were gone." Shawn stated matter-of-factly.

              Josef had over three hundred books on the wall in his office. Between that and the card stunt he didn’t doubt that Shawn was telling the truth. "That is incredible. I need to know something though. Since becoming a vampire have you had any weird feelings, like the one you have in your chest right now?"

              "Well, there was this afternoon. I had just left the SBPD and started getting down, but I just had a heart to heart with my woman." Shawn reasoned.

              Josef could see where that could happen but he needed some more information. "Mick said you were the one that turned Carlton, not Aaron… correct?"

              "Wait a minute, I’m the one who’s supposed to be asking questions.” Shawn complained and gave Josef a suspicious glare. He knew he was keeping something from him.

              "I heard you were going to ask me about this anyway. I figured I would mention it first.” He said dismissively. “Mick said you heard Aaron say he would know if you were hurt and you didn’t know what it would mean for you and Carlton."

              Shawn looked at his hands. "Mick said Aaron was crazy, but he was old too so he might have been able to feel something." Shawn raised his head to look directly at Josef. "Have you ever felt anything like that with people you turned?"

              Josef shook his head, feeling the choke of emotions as he thought about his lost love laying in a bed thousands of miles away. "Besides turning Mick back into a vampire, I haven’t turned anyone in a _very_ long time. I wouldn’t know if it was because of age or ability. I have to let you know something though Shawn. Earlier I told Mick to do some training with the others while we talked because it was something you have been through already and didn’t need to repeat." He admitted waiting to see if Shawn could put the pieces together.

              Shawn immediately put his hand to his chest. "Oh my God... Mick staked them."

              "Yes." Josef nodded.

 

              "And I felt it? What the _hell_ is that supposed to mean?" Shawn's eyes began to pale and he put his head in his hands.

              "Shawn, I’m trying to help you figure this out okay?" Josef got up and started to pace the room. It helped him think. "Have you ever heard of ESP?"

              "I can’t say the Psych office gets that channel." Shawn replied confused.

              Josef snorted. "No, no. ESP is Extra Sensory Perception."

              "Oooohhh..."

              "It's a term a lot of people use for being psychic, but really it means being able to sense or feel things above the normal." Josef explained. "To a degree, every vampire has a type of ESP compared to humans. Our senses are so heightened we can pick up on sights, smells and sounds that humans could never even dream of. Therefore, it would make us seem like we knew things we couldn’t. If you already had that type of heightened ability before you were a vampire, I can't even fathom what your senses must be at now." Josef could not hide his interest. "You wouldn’t happen to know your IQ would you?"

              Far from being excited Shawn let his head fall and smack on the desk. "Great, I was a freak as a human, now I am a freak as a vampire." Shawn moped and looked up at Josef, "Don’t say anything about me just being special either. I heard that from my dad my whole childhood as he was teaching me to count hats in a room, pick locks, escape from the trunk of a car and break my thumbs to get out of handcuffs."

              "I wish I could tell you more, I really do." Josef sighed, "but I'm just as stumped as you are." The dejected look didn't leave Shawn's features. "I can see what Mick and I can dig up, but for now you are just going to have to deal. We’d ask Aaron but he was put to death as soon as he returned to LA."

              Shawn stood up, no longer in a question asking mood. "Could you not tell Lassie any of this?" he asked Josef. "He still thinks Aaron turned him and I would like to keep it that way." He turned around to walk out and stopped at the door. "188."

              "What?" Josef asked confused at the random number.

              "You asked my IQ… it’s 188." Shawn repeated before closing the door behind him.

              The elder vampire was at a loss, and it didn’t happen to him often. Here was basically a vampire prodigy who was upset he wouldn’t be a normal vampire. "I didn’t understand kids today, not at all." He mumbled. Looking at the time, Josef decided it was time to call in Carlton, maybe he would unknowingly shed a bit more light on the situation Shawn was in.

\-----------------------------------------------

              Carlton sat down in Josef’s office. He absentmindedly rubbed his chest where the stake was less than a half hour ago. Mick had given Carlton some blood afterwards and the wound had healed, but Carlton could honestly say he would never forget the experience of feeling _that_ weak and vulnerable. He didn’t know how Shawn had done it without whining about it for days. _The man gets a paper cut and says he has a booboo for Christ’s sake!_ Carlton thought to himself.

              Josef sat down opposite him and Carlton’s anxiety stepped up a notch. He had seen what Shawn looked like when he left his chat with Josef. It wasn’t often he saw the psychic with the wind knocked out of his sails, and any other time Carlton would have gloated over it, but Shawn’s pained expression stopped him.

              Josef sat down at his desk and looked across at the detective. "So, ye of so many titles, what do you prefer to be called?"

              "Lassiter is fine with me." Carlton replied, going with a more formal route. Carlton found the young looking man hard to read. He had an easy smile and sarcastic demeanor that reminded him of a certain fake psychic, but that's all he could get. Plus, he still wasn't sure if most, or all of it, was an act.

              "Alright Lassiter, you know why you're here. Any questions you wanna ask?" Josef leaned back in his chair and folded his arms.

              "There's really only one thing I would like to know." Carlton said seriously.

              "Wow, your group are really into the whole learn for yourself thing aren’t you?" Josef shook his head. "Alright, ask away."

              Carlton leaned forward and whispered, "Do we need to ask anyone’s permission to turn someone?"

              Josef looked impressed. "That was _not_ a question a had been expecting from you detective." The vampire shook his head. "No, you don’t really have to ask anyone. You just have to be responsible enough to take the other vampire’s well-being and training in your hands." Carlton must have looked hopeful, because for just a moment the facade of jovialness fell away and he gave Carlton a serious look. "This is about a girl isn’t it?"

              Carlton smiled thinking of Marlowe. "She is the toughest, most beautiful woman in the world." The mask seemed to fall away more and a far away look came to Josef's features. "Kostan?"

              Shaking himself from thoughts of his past, Josef asked Carlton, "Have you told her yet?"

              Nodding, Carlton replied, "I told her this afternoon what I was. I refuse to keep secrets from her."

              "He told her this afternoon…" Before Carlton could ask what he meant by that, he changed the subject. "So, was she okay with this plan? You turning her?"

              "I don’t think it is any of your business if I don’t have to ask your permission." Carlton’s face hardened. If Josef was hiding things from him, the detective didn't feel any obligation to give him any insight either. "I am not one to broadcast my private life."

              "Whoa, easy there tiger I was just making sure." Josef saw that Carlton was getting defensive. "As long as you take care of her I have no problem... but know this, it will be extremely tempting to turn the ones you love rather than let them go. It's something every vampire eventually has to come to terms with."

              Carlton frowned, he had not thought of that. His mother, his sister Lauren, he could lose everyone. He had been having a lot of trouble controlling his emotions lately and this train of thought was not helping. Everything seemed to want to explode out of him and his usual calming techniques were having limited results.

              "Is there anything else you wanted to ask me?"

              Furrowing his brow, Carlton tried to think of anything else he could ask but he figured anything else he really wanted to know would be covered in the week’s lessons. "I can’t think of anything else." Carlton lied. "Are we done here?"

              Josef nodded, "Yes, you can go. Please send Morgan in would you?"

              Carlton gave a sharp nod and left the office to look for Morgan.

              " _It will be extremely tempting to turn the ones you love rather than let them go..."_

              The words echoed through his head as he walked down the hallway. Blue eyes met his as he entered the foyer where Morgan sat. Both Mick and Shawn were missing, and he guessed if Shawn felt anything like he did, he understood needing someone to talk to.

              "Grimes, you're up."

\----------------------------------------------------

              After everyone got to talk to Josef they got a bit of time to relax and chat. They seriously needed it.

              Shawn, Mick, and Morgan had come up with a plan, and decided to try and get their girlfriends together to come to the city and see if they hit it off. "Beth could help them, it would be like a support group." Mick reasoned.

              "Don’t forget about Gus. He wanted to stop by too." Shawn didn’t know how comfortable Gus would be around a bunch of vampires he didn’t know, but Shawn had promised him he could visit.

              Shawn looked over to Carlton who was sitting alone across the room. The moody detective had been there since he'd come back from talking with Mick. He knew Carlton internalized a lot of stuff and used his job to keep himself occupied so he wouldn’t have to think about things. Having the week off put the kibosh on the usual coping mechanisms, so Shawn figured the trick was to keep him occupied with something else.

              "Hey Lassie!" Shawn shouted making Carlton jump and glare at him. "You know Mick here has every Steve McQueen movie ever made?" Shawn knew exactly how to bait him.

              Carlton’s eyes lit up. "Really?" He walked over and joined the group by the fire sitting down next to Mick. "I loved ‘The Magnificent Seven!’ You know, I pretty much grew up on a ranch…" Shawn grinned at Mick who seemed just as excited to talk to Carlton about his favorite actor.

              Excusing himself, Shawn walked into the small gym area now dubbed "The Training Room." He saw they were going to have to put up with silver at some point this week. _Maybe they'll let me out of that one too._ He hoped.

              Continuing through to the balcony overlooking the city he stood and stared at the lights shining below him, then looked up to the smaller lights above him.

              _So much is going to change._ He thought to himself. Then he smirked, _Some things are hopefully going to stay the same._ He was remembering Gus’ death threat over the purple hoodie. He was able to hear that from all the way in the car with the engine running.

              Taking a calming breath he walked back into the penthouse making himself a promise that no matter how many years passed, he would keep his youthful charm. Noticing as he entered the living room that both Mick and Carlton were acting out their favorite movie scenes with Morgan and Josef looking on and laughing, he realized that promise might not be a hard one to keep after all.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yep. It's a CHUCK crossover too! 
> 
> Just one more chapter! Funny thing is it took me longer to edit this than it did to write it. :P


	16. EPILOGUE: Unlife Goes On

**Chapter 16- Un-life Goes on**

**Earlier that afternoon:**

              The loud buzz signaling the opening security door echoed through the visitation area. Carlton winced at the loud sound as well as the random blaring announcements coming over the prison’s PA system. The fact that Carlton was incredibly nervous did not help matters either. His senses were going haywire, and he really should have stayed home, but he needed to do this. He needed to see her.

              Marlowe sat at the far corner table with a guard standing next to her. Her hair wasn't braided today. It hung down next to her shoulders, having grown a couple inches from the time she was arrested. Carlton stood and just looked at her for a few minutes. He knew this could be the last time that he saw her and he wanted every second committed to memory.

              Marlowe’s face lit up as she saw Carlton approach. "Hey lover." She said in a sultry voice.

              "Hi Sweet Pea." Carlton greeted her and flashed his badge at the officer standing guard. He jerked his head in a 'go away' gesture. Getting the point the officer gave them some space.

              "Is there something wrong?" Carlton knew Marlowe could tell that he was upset about something. She had a knack for knowing when things were bothering him; which is something else that Carlton loved about her.

              Carlton reached through the tiny holes in the partition so they were able to touch fingers. "Something happened to me Marlowe. I know we promised after everything that happened we would keep no more secrets." Marlowe nodded as Carlton continued. "I was investigating a kidnapping, Spencer was injured and some whack-job abducted him right out of the hospital."

              Marlowe gasped in sympathy. She had not really met Shawn much besides him fingering her in the crime she was now imprisoned for but Carlton had convinced her that he wasn't a bad guy, just a pain in the ass.

              "O’Hara and I eventually tracked them to a warehouse where we were ambushed." Carlton paused, still unable to believe everything that had happened within the last couple of days. "He took an entire bullet clip to the torso and didn’t even slow down. I was knocked unconscious and when I woke up…" Carlton faltered.

              Marlowe leaned forward and gave Carlton a comforting smile. "It’s okay, you can tell me." God he loved this woman.

              He tried to start again, "When I woke up, I was told by Spencer and another detective who helped us track him that I was−" he lowered his voice, "A vampire."

              Giving Carlton a pained expression and putting her hand to her head in exasperation, Marlowe stated, "It is my brother all over again."

              "No! Sweetheart I can prove it. Please, baby." Carlton tried desperately to get her to look at him.

              Marlowe, heartbroken, glanced at Carlton and gasped. His irises were a grayish milky white. "Oh my God, Carlton."

              "Please Marlowe, I love you and I need you to believe that I'm the same guy you fell in love with last year. I swear on The Constitution of The United States of America that I am not lying or trying to trick you." Carlton looked at her desperately.

              Absentmindedly reaching across the partition to touch his face Marlowe was startled by a harsh whistle and a shout of "NO TOUCHING!"

              Yanking her hand back quickly she shifted in her chair. "How is this possible?" She had used his exact words when he had found out that vampires were real. Carlton smiled and concentrated on changing his eyes back to normal, which caused Marlowe to utter a "Wow…."

              Reaching through the holes in the partition again Carlton heaved a sigh of relief when Marlowe did the same. "I want you to know this doesn’t change a thing for how I feel about you." Carlton explained. "I'm still crazy in love with you."

              Struggling not to cry at how romantic he was, Marlowe replied, "I love you too Carlton and I will−" She stood up and pulled Carlton towards her by yanking his tie. "for all eternity." She whispered before passionately kissing him. This time, they ignored the whistles.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys enjoyed the story. I had to put that last part in because there are so many Lassie fans out there and so few Lassicentric moments between him and Marlowe.
> 
> I should have the sequels out soon. They don't require as much upkeep as this one did. Thank you for reading!


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